Sub-nanosecond excitonic luminescence in ZnO:In nanocrystals

Abstract The effects of indium concentration influence on the morphology, luminescence spectra and luminescence decay kinetics of ZnO:In nanocrystals prepared by the solar physical vapour deposition method are investigated. While undoped ZnO nanocrystals exhibit tetrapod-like morphology, with increasing indium concentration the tetrapods are transformed into particles whose average size decreases with increasing indium concentration. The results of time-resolved luminescence studies of undoped and indium doped ZnO nanocrystals showed that by increasing indium concentration the decay time falls and luminescence intensity decreases.