Surface-state related luminescence in ZnO nanocrystals

We investigate the optical properties of four different samples of ZnO nanocrystals, with a particle size average varying from 70 up to 380 nm. The photoluminescence (PL) of all samples shows at low temperature an emission band around 3.31 eV, which is several orders of magnitude stronger compared to the PL of bulk ZnO at this energy. This band shows a clear dependence on the surface to volume ratio of the nanocrystals and is therefore assigned to surface states. Temperature dependent measurements reveal that this band plays a major role up to room temperature for all examined ZnO powders. Additionally, intensity dependent measurements display that the origin of this emission band can be assigned to bound exciton complexes (BECs). Compared to the well known shallow BECs the measured lifetimes of these relatively strong bound excitons states are much longer. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.