In this article, the electroluminescence (EL) spectra of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanotubes/p-GaN light emitting diodes (LEDs) annealed in different ambients (argon, air, oxygen, and nitrogen) have been investigated. The ZnO nanotubes by aqueous chemical growth (ACG) technique on p-GaN substrates were obtained. The as-grown ZnO nanotubes were annealed in different ambients at 600°C for 30 min. The EL investigations showed that air, oxygen, and nitrogen annealing ambients have strongly affected the deep level emission bands in ZnO. It was concluded from the EL investigation that more than one deep level defect is involved in the red emission appearing between 620 and 750 nm and that the red emission in ZnO can be attributed to oxygen interstitials (Oi) appearing in the range from 620 nm (1.99 eV) to 690 nm (1.79 eV), and to oxygen vacancies (Vo) appearing in the range from 690 nm (1.79 eV) to 750 nm (1.65 eV). The annealing ambients, especially the nitrogen ambient, were also found to greatly influence the color-rendering properties and increase the CRI of the as - grown LEDs from 87 to 96.

Many applications require a low-cost and large-scale mode of flexible electronics with reasonably high photoresponse that can be detected without high precision measurement systems. We demonstrate a very easy to fabricate ZnO UV sensor, made on common pencil drawn circuit over a paper. ZnO nanocrystals were extracted in a high throughput via a simple and green route. This sensor is well capable of detecting UV light and demonstrates features comparable to those of made with complex and expensive techniques.

Relatively long (30 µm) high quality ZnO nanowires (NWs) were grown by the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) technique. Schottky diodes of single NW were fabricated by putting single ZnO NW across Au and Pt electrodes. A device with ohmic contacts at both the sides was also fabricated for comparison. The current-voltage (I-V) measurements for the Schottky diode show clear rectifying behavior and no reverse breakdown was seen down to -5 V. High current was observed in the forward bias and the device was found to be stable up to 12 V applied bias. The Schottky barrier device shows more sensitivity, lower dark current, and much faster switching under pulsed UV illumination. Desorption and re-adsorption of much smaller number of oxygen ions at the Schottky junction effectively alters the barrier height resulting in a faster response even for very long NWs. The NW was treated with oxygen plasma to improve the switching. The photodetector shows high stability, reversibility, and sensitivity to UV light. The results imply that single ZnO NW Schottky diode is a promising candidate for fabricating UV photodetectors.

Vertically aligned ZnO nanorods (NRs) with a diameter in the range of 160–200 nm were grown on p‐GaN/sapphire substrates by aqueous chemical growth technique and white light emitting diodes (LEDs) are fabricated. The properties of this LED were investigated by parameter analyzer, cathodoluminescnce (CL), electroluminescence (EL), and photoluminescence (PL). The I–V characteristics of the fabricated ZnO/GaN heterojunction revealed rectifying behavior and the LED emits visible EL when bias is applied. From the CL it was confirmed that both the ZnO NRs and the p‐GaN are contributing to the observed peaks. The observed EL measurements showed two emission bands centered at 450 nm and a second broad deep level defect related emission centered at 630 nm and extending from 500 nm and up to over 700 nm. Moreover, the room temperature PL spectrum of the ZnO NRs/p‐GaN reveals an extra peak at the green color wavelength centered at 550 nm. Comparison of the PL, CL, and EL data suggest that the blue and near red emissions in the EL spectra are originating from Mg acceptor levels in the p‐GaN and from the deep levels defects present in the ZnO NRs, respectively. The mixture of high and low energy colors, i.e., blue, green, and red, has led to the white observed luminescence.

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