Photoluminescence and structural analysis of wurtzite (ZnO)_1−x(V₂O₅)_x composite

This paper demonstrates the structural, vibrational and photoluminescence characteristics of (ZnO)_1−x(V₂O₅)_x (x = 0, 3, 6 and 9 mol%) composites semiconductor synthesized by using the solid state reaction method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies show that (ZnO)_1−x(V₂O₅)_x composites have the poly crystalline wurtzite structure of hexagonal ZnO. It is found from the XRD results that the lattice constants and the crystallite size increase while the dislocation density decreases with increase in doping concentration. The existence of E ₁ (TO) and E ₂ (high) Raman modes show that the ZnO still preserve wurtzite structure after doping vanadium oxide, which is in agreement with XRD results. Room temperature photoluminescence (PL) exhibit near band edge and broad deep level emission while indicating the suppression of deep level emission with the incorporation of V₂O₅ up to a certain concentration (x < 9). Moreover, the optical band gap increase with doping, which is accompanied by the blue shift of the NBE emission. (paper)