Photoluminescence properties of quasialigned ZnCdO nanorods

We report on the photoluminescence (PL) properties of quasialigned ZnCdO single-crystal nanorods prepared by thermal evaporation of Zn and CdCl2 on a Si substrate using Au as a catalyst. The temperature-dependent PL spectra of the ZnCdO nanorods show that each spectrum displays an intense near-band-edge (NBE) emission around 3.1 eV, as well as a weak defect-related band around 2.5 eV. At low temperatures, the NBE band consists of three peaks at 3.23, 3.16, and 3.06 eV. From time-integrated and time-resolved PL analyses, we suggest that the peak at 3.06 eV is associated with carriers localized at potential minima induced by the Cd spatial inhomogeneous distribution in ZnCdO alloys. The peak at 3.16 eV is attributed to the excitonic emission of ZnCdO, while the peak at 3.23 eV is ascribed to bound excitons in ZnO. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.