Structure, nanohardness and photoluminescence of ZnO ceramics based on nanopowders

Abstract

ZnO ceramics obtained from grained powders with different grain size by hot pressing and ceramics from tetrapods nanopowders obtained by press-less sintering have been investigated under identical conditions. Ceramics obtained by hot pressing were optically transparent but were composed of large inhomogeneous grains (d = 8–35 μm) exhibiting a substructure. Decreased values of elastic modulus within a grain and a wide defect-associated (‘green’) photoluminescence (PL) band at 2.2–2.8 eV in conjunction with a weak excitonic band indicate a high concentration of residual point defects in hot pressed ZnO ceramics. Utilization of more small-grained powders contributes to the formation of more uniform microstructure (d = 5–15 μm) and extraction of point defects. This reflects as a substantially decreased defect PL band and increased excitonic band. Ceramics obtained by press-less sintering from tetrapods had fine-grained structure (d = 1–4 μm) with no signs of a substructure. PL spectrum has a narrow excitonic band with phonon replicas (1LO_ExD0), whereas the defect ‘green’ luminescence is negligible. The effects of powders morphologies have been explained in terms of a hereditary influence of interaction processes between initial particles on the formation of a microstructure and kinetic of defect distribution on the grain growth stages during the sintering of ZnO ceramics.