Cathodoluminescence characterization of ZnO:Te microstructures obtained with ZnTe and TeO2 doping precursors

ZnTe- and TeO2-doped ZnO nanostructures and microstructures were obtained by a vapour–solid process by sintering compacted ZnO powder mixed with each precursor. Cathodoluminescence (CL) measurements show that if TeO2 is used, then the defect band, due mainly to O vacancies (V O), tends to reduce and even disapear, which indicates that Te reacts with ZnO and passivates the O vacancies better than if ZnTe is used as a precursor. With both precursors, a CL peak at about 3.08–3.17 eV, which overlaps with that of ZnO at about 3.26 eV, indicates that ZnTexO1−x forms.