Luminescence of one dimensional ZnO, GeO2–Zn2GeO4 nanostructure through thermal evaporation of Zn and Ge powder mixture

•ZnO and GeO2–ZnGeO4 nanowires were fabricated by thermal evaporation of Zn and Ge powder mixture.•Morphology of specimens were observed to have a nanowire structure to rod-like morphology.•Strong NBE emission band with suppressed visible green emission band were observed on the dominant ZnO nanowires.•Strong emission of ∼530 nm were observed on the GeO2–Zn2GeO4 nanowires.

This paper reports the first attempt for fabrication of thermal evaporated Zn–Ge powder mixture to achieve near-band-edge (NBE) emission of ZnO and visible emission of GeO2–Zn2GeO4 nanowires with controllable intensities. The nanowires were fabricated by thermal evaporation of Zn and Ge powder mixture, particularly, by using different Zn:Ge ratio, temperature and evaporated times. The morphology of nanowires was depended on the Zn and Ge ratio that was observed to have a nanowire structure to rod-like morphology. The thermal evaporation of Zn:Ge powder mixture resulted in formation of dominant ZnO or GeO2–Zn2GeO4 nanowires as a function of evaporated parameters. These results suggest that the application of thermal evaporation of Zn and Ge mixture for potential application in synthesis of ZnO or GeO2–Zn2GeO4 nanowires for optoelectronic field.

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