Microstructural and optical properties of europium-doped zinc oxide nanowires

•Epitaxial well-aligned Eu3+-doped ZnO nanowires were grown via a VLS mechanism.•The nanowires are single crystalline with a±[0001] growth direction.•Red luminescence related to Eu3+ intraionic transitions was observed for a doped sample.•FTIR results indicate that europium ions occupy Zn sites in the ZnO lattice.

Single-crystal Eu3+-doped wurtzite ZnO micro- and nanowires were synthesized by chemical vapor deposition. The nanostructures grew via a self-catalytic mechanism on the walls of an alumina boat. The structure and properties of the doped ZnO were characterized using X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) methods. A 10-min synthesis yielded vertically grown nanowires of 50–400 nm in diameter and several micrometers long. The nanowires grew along the ±[0001] direction. The Eu3+ concentration in the nanowires was 0.8 at.%. The crystal structure and microstructure of were compared for Eu3+-doped and undoped ZnO. PL spectra showed a red shift in emission for Eu3+-doped (2.02 eV) compared to undoped ZnO nanowires (2.37 eV) due to Eu3+ intraionic transitions. Diffuse reflectance spectra revealed widening of the optical bandgap by 0.12 eV for Eu3+-doped compared to undoped ZnO to yield a value of 3.31 eV. Fourier-transform infrared spectra confirmed the presence of europium in the ZnO nanowires.