Optical and structural characterization of blue-emitting Mg2+- and Zn2+-doped GaN nanoparticles

Venkataramanan Mahalingam; Enrico Bovero; Prabhakaran Munusamy; Frank C. J. M. van Veggel; Rui Wang; Andrew J. Steckl

doi:10.1039/B903539G

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Optical and structural characterization of blue-emitting Mg²⁺- and Zn²⁺-doped GaN nanoparticles†

Venkataramanan Mahalingam,^a Enrico Bovero,^a Prabhakaran Munusamy,^a Frank C. J. M. van Veggel,*^a Rui Wang^b and Andrew J. Steckl^b

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a University of Victoria, Department of Chemistry, P. O. Box 3065, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
E-mail: fvv@uvic.ca

^b Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati 45221-0030, Ohio, USA

Abstract

We show blue photoluminescence (∼425 nm) from both Mg²⁺- and Zn²⁺-doped GaN nanoparticles. The effect of the doping concentration of these ions on the structural and optical properties was systematically studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectroscopy. Starting from nitrate salts of gallium, zinc and magnesium we observed the formation of Mg²⁺- and Zn²⁺-doped Ga₂O₃ accompanied by Ga₂O₃. During the thermal cycle for the formation of GaN some of the zinc evaporates because of its relatively low boiling point. The PL intensity is proportional to the final concentration of the dopant ion in the final product and a weaker band is observable at a higher energy corresponding to the undoped GaN. Raman spectroscopic analysis confirms the distortion of the GaN lattice due to the incorporation of Mg²⁺ and Zn²⁺.

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/B903539G
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 19 Feb 2009
Accepted: 21 Mar 2009
First published: 01 May 2009

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J. Mater. Chem., 2009,19, 3889-3894

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Optical and structural characterization of blue-emitting Mg²⁺- and Zn²⁺-doped GaN nanoparticles

V. Mahalingam, E. Bovero, P. Munusamy, F. C. J. M. van Veggel, R. Wang and A. J. Steckl, J. Mater. Chem., 2009, 19, 3889 DOI: 10.1039/B903539G

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Journal of Materials Chemistry