Effect of hydrogen plasma treatment on the luminescence and photoconductive properties of ZnO nanowires

Abstract

ZnO nanowires with strong green emission synthesized by chemical vapor deposition were treated using hydrogen plasma. The effect of hydrogen plasma treatment was studied by means of photoluminescence and photoconductivity. A strong passivation of the green emission and a significant enhancement of the near band edge emission were found after the hydrogen plasma treatment. The conductivity of the nanowires in dark was increased by more than 3 orders of magnitude. The photoconductivity also increased after the hydrogen plasma treatment. The observed changes in the luminescence and photoconductive properties of the ZnO nanowires were likely caused by hydrogen atoms occupying both oxygen vacancies and interstitial sites.

Subwavelength Optical Resonant Cavity-Induced Enhancement of the Near-Band-Edge Emission from ZnO-Core/SnO2-Shell Nanorods

“…A variety of techniques have been used to enhance the near-band edge (NBE) emissions and simultaneously to suppress the deep level emissions of ZnO nanostructures. These techniques include thermal annealing in a hydrogen or oxygen atmosphere, hydrogen or argon plasma treatment, hydrogen or Ga doping, and encapsulation of the nanostructures with thin films − or coating them with nanoparticles . Particularly, in the case of ZnO 1D nanostructures, encapsulation has been widely studied for the enhancement of their NBE emission. − The capping materials include ceramic materials such as SnO 2 , − ZnS, , MgO, − Al 2 O 3 , and ZnCdO, metals such as Zn, Au, Ag, Pt,and polymers such as poly(methyl methacrylate) and polyaniline .…”

Photoluminescence in MgO-ZnO Nanorods Enhanced by Hydrogen Plasma Treatment

“…These techniques include thermal annealing in a hydrogen or oxygen atmosphere, 13 hydrogen or argon plasma treatment, 14 hydrogen or Ga doping, 15 and encapsulation of the nanostructures with thin films. 16 Of these techniques, formation of core-shell nanostructures by encapsulating ZnO nanostructures with other semiconducting oxide thin films has been reported by many research groups.…”

Photoluminescence properties of polymethyl methacrylate-coated Zn2SnO4 nanowires

“…Over the past few decades considerable effort has been made to enhance the NBE emission and suppress deep level (DL) emission of ZnO, because strong NBE emission is essential for realizing highperformance short-wavelength optoelectronic devices. A range of techniques such as thermal annealing in a hydrogen atmosphere [11], hydrogen [12] or argon plasma treatment [13], hydrogen [14] or gallium-doping [15], and thin-film coating [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] of ZnO nanostructures have been studied to enhance the NBE emission and suppress the visible emission of ZnO nanostructures.…”