Temperature-dependent photoluminescence and Raman investigation of Cu-incorporated ZnO nanorods

Temperature-dependent Raman and photoluminescence (PL) investigation of Cu-incorporated ZnO nanorods prepared by hydrothermal method have been investigated. A strong broad violet-blue emission has been observed in the PL spectra of Cu-incorporated ZnO nanorods, which decreases dramatically with increasing temperature. By Gaussian fitting, this peak can be resolved into two peaks centered at around 393 and 405 nm, respectively, under a temperature of 8 K. The origins of these two peaks are discussed. Temperature-dependent energies of neutral donor bound exciton (D0X) are analyzed, and the Einstein temperature is deduced to be around 343±44 K, which do not show significant change compared with that without Cu incorporation. An activation energy of about 14±1 meV is determined from the quenching of D0X as a function of temperature in the Cu-incorporated ZnO nanorods, which is much smaller than that deduced in the undoped ZnO nanorods (about 22±2 meV). The small activation energy can be attributed to the additional nonradiative centers introduced by Cu incorporation. The high concentration of defects and impurities in the Cu-incorporated ZnO nanorods are also confirmed by the larger value of the line width of the Raman spectra and its temperature-dependent relationship.