Enhanced ultraviolet emission from hybrid structures of single-walled carbon nanotubes/ZnO films

Abstract

We report interesting observation of strong enhancement of ultraviolet luminescence from hybrid structures of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs)/ZnO. SWNTs of 3–120 nm thickness (t) were deposited on top of 100 nm ZnO films/n-type Si (100) wafer by spin coating and vacuum filtration to form the hybrid structures. Photoluminescence (PL) intensity of the hybrid structures increases with increasing t up to 10 nm, becomes almost ten times larger at t=10 nm than that of the bare ZnO film and decreases with increasing t above 10 nm. This strong PL enhancement is also confirmed by PL mapping. These findings are discussed based on the surface-plasmon-mediated emission mechanism.