Modulating the ZnO NR shape to enhance the luminescence efficiency for optoelectronic applications

Abstract

It is essential to control the size of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods (NRs) for the improvement of tunable optoelectronic applications. In this paper, we present the results of a systematic and extensive study that explored the effect of growth parameters on the morphology and optoelectronic properties of ZnO NRs. We found that the length and width of ZnO NRs can be efficiently tuned by carefully controlling the growth parameters and by modulating the ZnO seed with reduced graphene (rGO). These results could give us a better understanding of the growth behavior of ZnO NRs and could contribute to the control of the morphology of these NRs for nano-device applications. Moreover, the effect of growth parameters on the optoelectronic properties of ZnO NRs was thoroughly investigated by fabricating light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with different morphologies of the ZnO NRs and the correlation between the morphology and the luminescence efficiency of ZnO was established. These investigations illustrate a viable and highly promising approach to enhance the luminescence intensity of ZnO NR-based LEDs by 500 times. The present work will guide researchers in the production of low-temperature, size-controlled, and aligned ZnO NRs for tunable highly luminescent optoelectronic applications.