Effects of Fluorine Doping on Structural and Optical Properties of Hydrothermally Grown ZnO Nanorods

Pure and fluorine-doped ZnO nanorods were hydrothermally grown on quartz substrates. The nanorod thickness and density were changed by varying the fluorine concentration. The full width at half-maximum and position of the diffraction peak corresponding to the ZnO (002) plane were used to calculate the decreased residual stress and increased c-axis lattice constant of the FZO nanorods. The near-band-edge PL emission peaks intensified and the deep-level emission peaks gradually weakened because more fluorine atoms occupied the ZnO lattice vacancies with increasing nanorod F concentration, thereby decreasing the nanorod surface-defect concentration.