Visible-light photoresponse in a hollow microtube : nanowire structure made of carbon-doped ZnO

• Main Authors: Liu, Xianbin, Du, Hejun, Sun, Xiaowei, Liu, Bo, Zhao, Dewei, Sun, Handong
• Other Authors: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Materials::Nanostructured materials
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/95702; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/10829
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

A hollow microtube–nanowire structure of carbon-doped ZnO was fabricated via using carbon fibers as the sacrificed substrates. The hollow microtube–nanowire architecture was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman, photoluminescence and electrical measurements. The results indicate that carbon is self-doped into ZnO primarily substituting oxygen in the growth and annealing processes. The room temperature photoluminescence spectrum of the carbon-doped ZnO shows a strong defect-induced emission in the visible range of 400–800 nm. The optoelectronic properties in the range of the visible light are demonstrated by operating an organic/inorganic p–n heterojunction and a metal–semiconductor–metal (M–S–M) structure, which indicates that carbon doping in ZnO extends its photoelectric specifics in the visible light region.