Zhang Ji-Ying

Photoluminescence and optically pumped ultraviolet lasing from nanocrystalline ZnO thin films prepared by thermal oxidation of high-quality ZnS thin films

We present a simple and useful method for preparing high-quality nanocrystalline ZnO thin films, i.e. the thermal oxidation of high-quality ZnS films prepared by the low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapour deposition technique. The x-ray diffraction measurements reveal that the nanocrystalline ZnO has a hexagonal wurtzite structure. Raman spectra show that the longitudinal optical phonon with the E1-mode appears at 578 cm-1. The multiple phonon scattering process is also observed, indicating the formation of a high-quality nanocrystalline ZnO thin film. The photoluminescence spectrum has a single emission peak at 3.264 eV from the free-exciton mission, under the condition of low excitation power at room temperature. However, when excitation intensities exceed the threshold of 150 kW/cm2, a new and narrow peak emerges at lower energies, which are attributed to exciton-exciton collisions, and is called the P line. The intensity of this peak increases superlinearly with the pumping power over a threshold value. This supplies strong evidence of stimulated emission. The multiple longitudinal cavity modes observed in the stimulated emission spectrum indicate the successful realization of optically pumped lasing from nanocrystalline ZnO films at room temperature.

Ultraviolet Luminescence in Mg0.12Zn0.88O Alloy Films

We investigate the origin of ultraviolet (UV) emission from Mg0.12Zn0.88O alloy thin films with a wurtzite structure fabricated on c-plane Al2O3 substrates by plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy. At room temperature, the absorption edge and UV emission band of the Mg0.12Zn0.88O film shift to high-energy side compared with ZnO films. Temperature dependence of the photoluminescence spectra shows that the UV emission is composed of free exciton and neutral donor bound exciton emissions. Two-step dissociation processes of the UV emission are observed with the increasing temperature. The thermal quenching mechanism is attributed to the dissociation of the free exciton from the neutral donor bound exciton in the low temperature region and the dissociation of free electron and hole from the free exciton in the high temperature region.

Formation Mechanisms of Electrical Conductivity and Optical Properties of ZnO:N Film Produced by Annealing Treatment

The effects of annealing on the chemical states of N dopant, electrical, and optical properties of N-doped ZnO film grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) are investigated. Both the as-grown ZnO:N film and the film annealed in N2 are of n-type conductivity, whereas the conductivity converts into p-type conductivity for the film annealed in O2. We suggest that the transformation of conductivity is ascribed to the change in ratio of the N molecular number on O site (N2)O to the N atom number on O site (NO) in ZnO:N films under the various annealed atmosphere. For the ZnO:N film annealed in N2, the percentage content of (N2)O is larger than that of NO, i.e. the ratio > 1, resulting in the n-type conductivity. However, in the case of the ZnO:N film annealed in O2, the percentage content of (N2)O is fewer than that of NO, i.e., the ratio < 1, giving rise to the p-type conductivity. There is an obvious difference between low-temperature (80 K) PL spectra of ZnO:N film annealed in N2 and that of ZnO:N film annealed in O2. An emission band located at 3.358 eV is observed in the spectra of the ZnO:N film after annealed in N2, this emission band is due to donor-bound exciton (D0X). After annealed in O2, the PL of the donor-bound exciton disappeared, an emission band located at 3.348 eV is observed, this emission band is assigned to acceptor-bound exciton (A0X).

Temperature-Dependent Photoluminescence in Coupling Structures of CdSe Quantum Dots and a ZnCdSe Quantum Well

A coupling structure of CdSe quantum dots (QDs) and a ZnCdSe quantum well (QW) is fabricated by using the molecular-beam epitaxy technique. The effect of temperature on the photoluminescence (PL) of the structure is studied. The results reveal that the activation energy of exciton dissociation in the coupling QDs/QW structure is much higher than that of simple CdSe QDs, which is attributed to the exciton tunnelling from the QW to QDs through a thin ZnSe barrier layer. The results also reveal that the position and width of the emission band of the QDs vary discontinuously at certain temperatures. This phenomenon is explained by the QD ionization and exciton tunnelling from the QW to the QDs. It is demonstrated that the coupling structure significantly improves the PL intensity of CdSe QDs.

Temperature-Dependent Photoluminescence of ZnTe Films Grown on Si Substrates

ZnTe films have been prepared on Si substrates by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD), and the temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) properties were investigated. The near-band-edge (NBE) emission of the ZnTe sample at 83 K shows an asymmetry line shape, which can be decomposed into two Gaussian lines labelled by FE and BE. Temperature-dependent PL intensity of the NBE peak shows two variation regions, and an expression with two dissociation channels fits well to the experimental data. The results of the temperature-dependent full width at half maximum (FWHM) and peak energy were well understood under the framework of the two-dissociation-channel model. That is, at low temperature, the emission from bound excitons governs the NBE peak, while above 157 K, the free exciton emission becomes dominant gradually. A simple model with three energy levels was employed to describe the variation in emission intensity of BE and FE with temperature.

Spectroscopy of the Forming Process of Quantum Dots Accompanied by the Thinning of Wetting Layer

A series of Cd0.44Zn0.56Se/ZnSe sandwich structures with different Cd0.44Zn0.56Se embedded layer thicknesses were fabricated by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. When the embedded layer thickness exceeded 3.0 nm, the photoluminescence spectra of the sample changed into the two-band structure from the one-band structure, and atomic force microscopy images indicate that Cd0.44Zn0.56Se quantum dots were formed. In the two-band photoluminescence spectrum, the band at the low energy side was attributed to be from quantum dots, and the high-energy one arose from the wetting layer. Thinning of the wetting layer with quantum dots forming was confirmed indirectly by the significant blue shift of the wetting-layer photoluminescence band compared to the photoluminescence band of the samples for which the Cd0.44Zn0.56Se layer thickness was less than 3.0 nm. This thinning arose from mass migration during the Stranski–Krastanow growth of Cd0.44Zn0.56Se quantum dots.

A thermally activated exciton-exciton collision process in ZnO microrods

Room-temperature P-band emission induced by an exciton–exciton collision process was observed in ZnO micro-rods. Both temperature- and excitation-intensity-dependent photoluminescence (PL) measurements were conducted. The excitation-intensity-dependent measurement illustrated that the P-band emission could occur at far lower excitation intensity than that reported in the literature. Higher-order transitions were also observed at the excitation intensity of 7.1 kW/cm2 or above. The temperature-dependent PL showed that the P-band emission process was thermally activated. It is suggested that both the density and activity of free excitons played important roles in the exciton–exciton collision process.

Optical Properties of ZnCdSe/ZnMgSe Multiple Quantum Wells Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

We study the optical properties of ZnCdSe/ZnMgSe multiple quantum wells using photoluminescence (PL) and Raman scattering spectra. In the PL spectra, an intense emission band coming from the free exciton luminescence of the quantum wells can be observed from 80 K to 300 K. The exciton binding energy is evaluated by the dependence of PL intensity on the temperature, showing the behaviour of the better two-dimensional excitons. The result indicates that the enhancement of the confinement effect is due to containing Mg in the barrier layers. At room temperature, Raman scattering spectra are classified into confined optical modes and folded optical modes. This confirms the formation of a multilayer system with a higher crystalline quality.