Blue and white light emission from zinc oxide nanoforests

• Nafisa Noor,
• Luca Lucera,
• Thomas Capuano,
• Venkata Manthina,
• Alexander G. Agrios,
• Helena Silva and
• Ali Gokirmak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2463–2469, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.255

• , University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA 10.3762/bjnano.6.255 Abstract Blue and white light emission is observed when high voltage stress is applied using micrometer-separated tungsten probes across a nanoforest formed of ZnO nanorods. The optical spectrum of the emitted light consistently

• indicate that the dielectric breakdown of ZnO, sublimation, and plasma formation processes are the underlying mechanisms. Keywords: electrical stress; light emission; nanoforest; plasma; zinc oxide; Introduction The interest in environmentally friendly semiconductors, biocompatible [1], functional

• performed in an Alessi probe station and those in vacuum were done in a Janis cryogenic probe station at 2.5 mTorr (medium vacuum). The tungsten probe tips with 2.4 µm tip radius and 45° angle (Cascade Microtech, PTT-24/4-25) were forced to slightly slide through the ZnO nanoforest in order to ensure good