Emission, Defects, and Structure of ZnO Nanocrystal Films Obtained by Electrochemical Method

Abstract

The impact of different annealing temperatures on the crystal structure, emission and radiative defects in ZnO nanocrystals (NCs) has been investigated by means of the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL) techniques. ZnO NCs were prepared by the anodization of zinc sheets in an electrolyte and thermal annealed at the various temperatures: 200, 240, 280, 320, 360 and 400oC for two hours in ambient air. The XRD study indicates that ZnO NCs are characterized by the hexagonal wurtzite structure. The study of annealing temperature impact on the morphology of ZnO NCs has shown that the NC size enlarges and the film crystallinity improves with increasing annealing temperatures from 200oC up to 400oC. But in the temperature range of 360–400oC the dissolution of oxygen atoms raises essentially in ZnO NC films as it follows from EDS data. Simultaneously, the near band edge (NBE) emission intensity falls down, XRD parameters of ZnO NCs change and the intensity of defect related orange and green PL bands increases owing to increasing the defect concentrations. The optimal temperatures for the ZnO NC oxidation, together with keeping the high NBE emission intensity, are estimated as 360 oC. The nature of native defects responsible for orange and green emissions in ZnO NCs has been discussed.