Probing the origin of green emission in 1D ZnS nanostructures

In this paper, the origin of the green emission has been addressed by systematically probing at nanoscale the change of surface morphology, chemical composition and cathodoluminescence spectrum of an individual ZnS microrod and of ZnS nanowires upon increasing oxidation temperature in air. We found that the emergence of the green emission is directly related to the formation of the ZnO layer and the imperfect surface/interface between the newly formed ZnO and the ZnS backbone. A simple approach for fabrication of a broad-band white luminescence ZnO/ZnS-based material has also been proposed and experimentally tested demonstrating high potential for application in UV-excited phosphor-converted white LED.