Zinc oxide nanorod-based heterostructures on solid and soft substrates for white-light-emitting diode applications

Abstract

ZnO nanorods with excellent optical and electro-optical emission characteristics were grown using high- and low-temperature techniques on solid and soft substrate materials. The solid crystalline substrates included p-4H-SiC and p-GaN, while the soft amorphous substrates included p-type polymers deposited on glass and flexible plastic. Two different growth approaches were used to produce these samples. We used the vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) technique (high temperature) and aqueous chemical growth (ACG), which is a low-temperature technique. These ZnO nanorod samples were characterized by room temperature photoluminescence (PL) and processed to fabricate light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The LED characteristics were further investigated by I–V and electroluminescence (EL). As observed by PL measurements, all samples revealed a sharp narrow ultraviolet (UV) peak due to band-edge emission, indicating the good crystalline quality of the grown ZnO nanorods. The origin of the different peaks within the visible region was correlated to different deep level defects reported earlier for ZnO. All fabricated LEDs showed EL providing a wide band extended through the whole visible spectrum and hence produced clear white light observable to the naked eye. The emitted color quality investigation showed that superior color quality was manifested in a high color rendering index and stable color under current variation, indicating that these heterojunction and hybrid LEDs have potential for the development of future light sources. The ZnO nanorod-based LEDs grown by low-temperature ACG on glass and flexible plastic can, after further development, be candidates for future large-area white-light sources.