Abstract
ZnO and ZnMgO nanorods have proven to be promising materials for sensing, UV and deep UV based optoelectronic applications. A major drawback of ZnO and ZnMgO based thin films and nanorods is the presence of native point defects which deteriorates their optical efficiency and becomes an impediment to their efficient device applications. The furnace and rapid thermal annealing processes have overcome this up to a great extent but being high temperature processes, they put many fabrication and technological limits in device fabrication. Especially keeping an eye on the future flexible devices, herein we report ultraviolet-ozone (UVO) annealing as a room-temperature, simple and cost-effective annealing method to improve the optical efficiency of ZnO and ZnMgO nanorods along with control of defect states. The ZnO and ZnMgO nanorods were grown by hydrothermal method and annealed in UVO irradiation. UVO annealing substantially improved near band emission and suppressed defect band emissions. It is found that zinc interstitial atoms migrate from the top portion of ZnO nanorods towards the bottom of nanorods after UVO annealing, resulting in reduced zinc interstitial defects in the top portion of nanorods. X-ray diffraction results showed improvement in structural properties. XPS results confirmed suppression of oxygen vacancies and zinc interstitials and improvement in lattice oxygen in the ZnO nanorods after UVO annealing. Optimum times of UVO annealing for ZnO and ZnMgO nanorods were 30 and 50 min respectively. These findings will be helpful for the further development of ZnO and ZnMgO nanorods based high performance optoelectronic devices and sensors.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
X.W. Sun, J.Z. Huang, J.X. Wang, Z. Xu, A ZnO nanorod inorganic/organic heterostructure light-emitting diode emitting at 342 nm. LETTERS (2008). https://doi.org/10.1021/nl080340z
S.J. An, J.H. Chae, G.-C. Yi, G.H. Park, Enhanced light output of GaN-based light-emitting diodes with ZnO nanorod arrays. Appl. Phys. Lett. 92(12), 121108 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2903153
H. Guo, J. Zhou, Z. Lin, ZnO nanorod light-emitting diodes fabricated by electrochemical approaches. Electrochem. Commun. 10(1), 146–150 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2007.11.010
N. Liu, G. Fang, W. Zeng, H. Zhou, F. Cheng, Q. Zheng, L. Yuan, X. Zou, X. Zhao, Direct growth of lateral ZnO nanorod UV photodetectors with schottky contact by a single-step hydrothermal reaction. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2(7), 1973–1979 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1021/am100277q
Y. Li, F. Della Valle, M. Simonnet, I. Yamada, J.J. Delaunay, High-performance UV detector made of ultra-long ZnO bridging nanowires. Nanotechnology 20, 4, (2009). https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/20/4/045501
W.S. Wang, T.T. Wu, T.H. Chou, Y.Y. Chen, A ZnO nanorod-based SAW oscillator system for ultraviolet detection. Nanotechnology 20, 13 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/20/13/135503
J.J. Hassan, M.A. Mahdi, S.J. Kasim, N.M. Ahmed, H. Abu Hassan, Z. Hassan, High sensitivity and fast response and recovery times in a ZnO nanorod array/p-Si self-powered ultraviolet detector. Appl. Phys. Lett. 101(26), 99–102 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4773245.ac
Y. Zhao, J. Zhang, D. Jiang, C. Shan, Z. Zhang, B. Yao, D. Zhao, D. Shen, Ultraviolet photodetector based on a MgZnO film grown by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 1(11), 2428–2430 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1021/am900531u
R. Bhardwaj, P. Sharma, R. Singh, M. Gupta, S. Mukherjee, High Responsivity MgxZn1–xO Based Ultraviolet Photodetector Fabricated by Dual Ion Beam Sputtering. IEEE Sensors J 18(7), 2744–2750 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1109/JSEN.2018.2803678
B.S. Kang, W.W. Heo, L.C. Tien, D.P. Norton, F. Ren, B.P. Gila, S.J. Peatron, Hydrogen and ozone gas sensing using multiple ZnO nanorods. Appl. Phys. A Mater. Sci. Process. 80(5), 1029–1032 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-004-3098-8
C. Catto, L.F. da Silva, C. Ribeiro, S. Bernardini, K. Aguir, E. Longo, V.R. Mastelaro, An easy method of preparing ozone gas sensors based on ZnO nanorods. RSC Adv. 5(25), 19528–19533 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1039/C5RA00581G
Y. Zeng, T. Zhang, M. Yuan, M. Kang, G. Lu, R. Wang, H. Fan, Y. He, H. Yang, Growth and selective acetone detection based on ZnO nanorod arrays. Sens. Actuators B Chem 143(1), 93–98 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2009.08.053
Z.L. Wang, Nanostructures of zinc oxide. Mater. Today 7(6), 26–33 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1369-7021(04)00286-X
V. Padmavathy, S. Sankar, Tuning the optical properties of ZnO:Cd by doping La and Y. Superlattices Microstruct. 128, 127–135 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spmi.2018.11.010
X. Zhang, J. Qin, Y. Xue, P. Yu, B. Zhang, L. Wang, R. Liu, Effect of aspect ratio and surface defects on the photocatalytic activity of ZnO nanorods. Sci. Rep. 4, 4–11 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep04596
L. Schmidt-Mende, J.L. MacManus-Driscoll, ZnO–nanostructures, defects, and devices. Materials today 10(5), 40–48 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1369-7021(07)70078-0
L. Liao, H.B. Lu, J.C. Li, H. He, D.F. Wang, D.J. Fu, C. Liu, Size dependence of gas sensitivity of ZnO nanorods. J. Phys. Chem. C 111(5), 1900–1903 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1021/jp065963k
K.M. Wong, Y. Fang, A. Devaux, L. Wen, J. Huang, L.D. Colac, Y. Lei, Assorted analytical and spectroscopic techniques for the optimization of the defect-related properties in size-controlled ZnO nanowires. Nanoscale 3(11), 4830–4839 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1039/C1NR10806A
S.J. Clark, J. Robertson, S. Lany, A. Zunger, Intrinsic defects in ZnO calculated by screened exchange and hybrid density functional. Phys. Rev. B 81, 115311 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.81.115311
A. Janotti, C.G. Van de Walle, Native point defects in ZnO. Phys. Rev. B 76, 165202 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.76.165202
F. Kohan, G. Ceder, D. Morgan, G. Chris, Van de Walle, First-principles study of native point defects in ZnO. Phys. Rev. B 61, 15019 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.61.15019
M. Liu, A.H. Kitai, P. Mascher, Point defects and luminescence centres in zinc oxide and zinc oxide doped with manganese. J. Lumin. 54, 35 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-2313(92)90047-D
S.K. Pandey, S.K. Pandey, C. Mukherjee, P. Mishra, M. Gupta, S.R. Barman, S.W. D’Souza, S. Mukherjee, Effect of growth temperature on structural, electrical and optical properties of dual ion beam sputtered ZnO thin films. J. Mater. Sci.: Mater. Electron. 24, 2541 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-013-1130-5
C.H. Ahn, Y.Y. Kim, D.C. Kim, S.K. Mohanta, H.K. Cho, A comparative analysis of deep level emission in ZnO layers deposited by various methods. J. Appl. Phys. 105(1), 1–6 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3054175
K. Vanheusden, C.H. Seager, W.L. Warren, D.R. Tallant, J.A. Voigt, Correlation between photoluminescence and oxygen vacancies in ZnO phosphors. Appl. Phys. Lett. 403(1996), 403 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.116699@apl.2019.APLCLASS2019.issue-1
B. Lin, Z. Fu, Y. Jia, Green luminescent center in undoped zinc oxide films deposited on silicon substrates. Appl. Phys. Lett. 79(7), 943–945 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1394173@apl.2019.APLCLASS2019.issue-1
Q.X. Zhao, P. Klason, M. Willander, H.M. Zhong, W. Lu, J.H. Yang, Deep-level emissions influenced by O and Zn implantations in ZnO. Appl. Phys. Lett. 87(21), 1–3 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2135880
C.C. Li, Z.F. Du, L.M. Li, H.C. Yu, Q. Wan, T.H. Wang, Surface-depletion controlled gas sensing of ZnO nanorods grown at room temperature. Appl. Phys. Lett. 91(3), 2005–2008 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2752541
B. Djurišić, Y.H. Leung, K.H. Tam, Green, yellow, and orange defect emission from ZnO nanostructures: Influence of excitation wavelength. Appl. Phys. Lett. 88(10), 2006–2008 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2182096
D.-R. Hang, S. Islam, K. Sharma, S.-W. Kuo, C.-Z. Zhang, J.-J. Wang, Annealing effects on the optical and morphological properties of ZnO nanorods on AZO substrate by using aqueous solution method at low temperature. Nanoscale Res. Lett. 9(1), 632 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/1556-276X-9-632
R. Martins, E. Fortunato, P. Nunes, I. Ferreira, A. Marques, M. Bender, N. Katsarakis, V. Cimalla, G. Kiriakidis, Zinc oxide as an ozone sensor. J. Appl. Phys. 96(3), 1398–1408 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1765864
S. Jeong, J. Moon, Low-temperature, solution-processed metal oxide thin film transistors. J. Mater. Chem. 22(4), 1243–1250 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1039/C1JM14452A
W.J. Scheideler, V. Subramanian, UV-annealing-enhanced stability in high-performance HTMLed InOx transistors. IEEE Trans Electron. Dev. Manuf. Conf. (2017). https://doi.org/10.1109/EDTM.2017.7947559
H. Ghadi, P. Murkute, A. Ghosh, S.M.M.D. Dwivedi, A. Mondal, S. Chakrabarti, Ultrasensitive zinc magnesium oxide nanorods based micro-sensor platform for UV detection and light trapping. Sens. Actuators A 278, 127–139 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sna.2018.05.028
P. Murkute, H. Ghadi, S. Saha, S.K. Pandey, S. Chakrabarti, Enhancement in optical characteristics of c-axis-oriented radio frequency–sputtered ZnO thin films through growth ambient and annealing temperature optimization. Mater. Sci. Semicond. Process. 66, no. April, pp. 1–8 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mssp.2017.03.026
V. Strano, R.G. Urso, M. Scuderi, K.O. Iwu, F. Simone, E. Ciliberto, C. Spinella, S. Mirabella, Double role of HMTA in ZnO nanorods grown by chemical bath deposition. J. Phys. Chem. C 118(48), 28189–28195 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1021/jp507496a
S. Baruah, J. Dutta, Hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanostructures. Sci. Technol. Adv. Mater. 10, 1 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1088/1468-6996/10/1/013001
Y. Wei, Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of ZnO nanorods. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 393(40), 80–82 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2004.09.067
Y.H. Kim, J.S. Heo, T.H. Kim, S. Park, M.H. Yoon, J. Kim, M.S. Oh, G.R. Yi, Y.Y. Noh, S.K. Park, Flexible metal-oxide devices made by room-temperature photochemical activation of sol-gel films. Nature 489(7414), 128–132 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11434
M. Norouzi, M. Kolahdouz, P. Ebrahimi, M. Ganjian, R. Soleimanzadeh, K. Narimani, H. Radamson, Thermoelectric energy harvesting using array of vertically aligned Al-doped ZnO nanorods. Thin Solid Films 619, 41–47 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2016.10.041
H.S. Lee, J.Y. Lee, T.W. Kim, D.W. Kim, W.J. Cho, Formation mechanism of preferential c-axis oriented ZnO thin films grown on p-Si substrates. J. Mater. Sci. 39(10), 3525–3528 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JMSC.0000026968.24617.f6
A. Singh, D. Vij, P.K. Kumar, M. Khanna, S. Kumar, Gautam, K.H. Chae, Investigation of phase segregation in sol–gel derived ZnMgO thin films. Semicond. Sci. Technol. 28, 2, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1088/0268-1242/28/2/025004
W. Chebil, A. Fouzri, A. Fargi, B. Azeza, Z. Zaaboub, V. Sallet, Characterization of ZnO thin films grown on different p-Si substrate elaborated by solgel spin-coating method. Mater. Res. Bull. Vol 70, 719–727 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.materresbull.2015.06.003
W. Muhammad, N. Ullah, M. Haroona, B.H. Abbasi, Optical, morphological and biological analysis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) using Papaver somniferum L, RSC Adv. 9, 29541 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1039/C9RA04424H
P. Erhart, A. Klein, K. Albe, First-principles study of the structure and stability of oxygen defects in zinc oxide. Phys. Rev. B 72(8), 085213 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.72.085213
A. Janotti, C.G. Van de Walle, Oxygen vacancies in ZnO. Appl. Phys. Lett. 87(12), 122102 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2053360
A.L. Patterson, The Scherrer formula for X-ray particle size determination. Phys Rev 56(10), 978 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.56.978
A. Sett, M. Mondal, T.K. Bhattacharyya, Hierarchical ZnO nanorods with tailored surface defects for enhanced acetone sensing. IEEE Sens. J. 19(10), 3601–3608 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1109/JSEN.2019.2896919
A. Sett, S. Dey, P.K. Guha, T.K. Bhattacharyya, ZnO/γ-Fe2O3 heterostructure toward high-performance acetone sensing. IEEE Sens. J. 19, 8576–8582 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1109/JSEN.2019.2921421
A. Jin, R.J. Narayan. Tiwari, Ultraviolet-illumination-enhanced photoluminescence effect in zinc oxide thin films. J. Appl. Phys. 98, 8 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2108156
W.M. Kwok, A.B. Djurišić, Y.H. Leung, W.K. Chan, D.L. Phillips, Time-resolved photoluminescence study of the stimulated emission in ZnO nanoneedles. Appl. Phys. Lett. 87(9), 2003–2006 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2035871
R. Radoi, P. Fernández, J. Piqueras, M.S. Wiggins, J. Solis, Luminescence properties of mechanically milled and laser irradiated ZnO. Nanotechnology 14(7), 794 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/14/7/317
N. Ohashi, N. Ebisawa, T. Sekiguchi, I. Sakaguchi, Y. Wada, T. Takenaka, H. Haneda, Yellowish-white luminescence in codoped zinc oxide. Appl. Phys. Lett. 86(9), 091902 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1871349
J.H. Lim, S.M. Lee, H.S. Kim, H.Y. Kim, J. Park, S.B. Jung, G.C. Park, J. Kim, J. Joo, Synergistic effect of indium and gallium co-doping on growth behavior and physical properties of hydrothermally grown ZnO nanorods. Sci. Rep. 7, 41992 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep41992
M.J. Alam, P. Murkute, S. Sushama, H. Ghadi, S. Chakrabarti, Improving optical properties and controlling defect-bound states in ZnMgO thin films through ultraviolet–ozone annealing. Thin Solid Films 708, 138112 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2020.138112
Q. Bao, X. Liu, Y. Xia, F. Gao, L.D. Kauffmann, O. Margeat, J. Ackermannc, and M. Fahlmana,“Effects of ultraviolet soaking on surface electronic structures of solution processed ZnO nanoparticle films in polymer solar cells”. J. Mater. Chem. A 2(41), 17676–17682 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1039/C4TA02695K
K. Liu, M. Sakurai, M. Aono, ZnO-based ultraviolet photodetectors. Sensors 10(9), 8604–8634 (2010). https://doi.org/10.3390/s100908604
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge IITBNF and SAIF, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, for providing access to the equipment used in the experiments.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alam, M.J., Murkute, P., Sushama, S. et al. Room-temperature ultraviolet-ozone annealing of ZnO and ZnMgO nanorods to attain enhanced optical properties. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 31, 18777–18790 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-020-04418-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-020-04418-z