Abstract
Applications of ZnMgO nanocrystals (NCs), especially in photoelectric detectors, have significant limitations because of the unresolved phase separation in the synthesis process. Here, we propose a rapid and highly efficient ZnMgO NC alloying method based on pulsed laser ablation in liquid. The limit value of homogeneous magnesium (Mg) is pushed from 37% to 62%, and the optical band gap is increased to 3.7 eV with high doping efficiency (>100%). Further investigations on the lattice geometry of ZnMgO NCs indicate that all ZnMgO NCs are hexagonal wurtzite structures, and the (002) and (100) peaks shift to higher diffraction angles with the increase in Mg doping content. The calculated results of the lattice constants a and c slightly decrease based on Bragg’s law and lattice geometry equations. Furthermore, the relationship between annealing temperature and the limit value of homogeneous Mg is examined, and the results reveal that the latter decreases with the former because of the phase separation of MgO. A probable mechanism of zinc magnesium alloy is introduced to expound on the details of the laser-alloying process.
Highlights
Semiconductor oxide materials based on energy-gap engineering have garnered widespread interest in many aspects, for instance, in catalysts, sensors, electronic devices, detectors and solar cells, among others[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]
The investigation of the lattice geometry indicates that the lattice constants a and c of ZnMgO NCs slightly decrease with the increase in Mg content
By pulsed laser ablating Zn-Mg alloy targets with different atomic percentages in deionized water, Mg ions can be introduced into the zinc oxide (ZnO) lattice as confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns (Fig. 1a) and lattice evolutions (Fig. 1b)
Summary
Nanocrystals received: 16 November 2015 accepted: 01 June 2016 Published: 21 June 2016. Laser ablation in liquid (LAL) has many advantages: it requires a simple operation, does not require high temperature, high pressure, and protected gas, produces an extreme non-equilibrium condition, and has a highly active plasmon plume in the rapid synthesis process, among others It can improve the Mg solubility in ZnMgO NCs. LAL may be beneficial in promoting Mg dopants diffusing into the base compound. We report on the rapid and high-efficiency alloy of ZnMgO NCs by pulsed laser ablating Zn-Mg alloy targets with different atomic percentages Through this laser-alloying method, the Mg2+ ions can be introduced into the ZnO lattice without phase separation with concentration as high as 62%. According to the analysis above, a probable Zn-Mg alloy mechanism is proposed to expound on the details of the laser-alloying process
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