Defect-assisted tuning of electroluminescence from p-GaN/n-ZnO nanorod heterojunction

Growth of nanostructured ZnO by solution process always lead to the formation of various kinds of defects. Defect states also can aid in improving different properties of the material. In the case of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), major research is focused on tuning the emission colour so as to achieve white emission without the use of any phosphors. Vertically aligned ZnO nanorods were grown over Mg:GaN substrate by hydrothermal process. High-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) analysis confirms the epitaxial growth of nanorods over the substrate. The photoluminescence (PL) studies revealed a narrow near band edge emission and a broad defect-induced deep level emission. The intensity of deep level emissions related to Zni, Vo, O i defects decreases on annealing. The V–I characteristics of the heterojunction showed excellent rectifying nature with electroluminescence emission on forward bias. Device fabricated by as-grown ZnO nanorods emits in the UV–blue region and broad emission in the visible region. While the annealed device emitted only in UV–blue region. The emission wavelengths closely matched with that of defect state emissions obtained in the PL studies. By annealing, various defect states density can be controlled, thereby emission colour tuned from white to blue.