Synthesis of zinc oxide microrods and nano-fibers with dominant exciton emission at room temperature

Employing a simple chemical synthesis method, hexagonal-shaped zinc oxide microrods and zinc oxide nano-fibers were deposited on pyrex-glass and aluminum substrates, respectively. Both kinds of deposits showed zincite crystalline phase with lattice parameters: a=3.2498 Å and c=5.2066 Å. Microrods showed very uniform wide and large sizes of around 1 and 10 μm, respectively. Both deposits were homogeneous over all substrate surfaces. Microrods and nano-fibers resulted with good optical quality and with preferential crystalline growth in [1 0 1 0] and [0 0 0 1] directions. The principal optical characteristics for both microrods and nano-fibers were: a) room-temperature photo and cathodo-luminescent spectra with strong exciton emission centered around 390 nm and with FWHMs around 125 and 160 meV, respectively, b) poor photo and cathode-luminescent emissions in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum, c) energy band gap of 3.32 eV, d) good emission efficiency supported by the not-required high energy densities to obtain strong exciton emission and e) good ZnO stoichiometry endorsed by photoluminescent results. These characteristics make of these microrods and nano-fibers good for potential photonic applications.