Photoluminescence study of pure and Li-doped ZnO thin films grown by sol-gel technique

The effect of annealing atmosphere, temperature and aging on the photoluminescence of pure and Li-doped ZnO thin films has been investigated. Annealing the pure ZnO in N2 and He above 800 oC results in green emission centered at ca. 500 nm; however annealing in air red-shifts the green emission to 527 nm. The visible emission of the Li-doped ZnO is found to be largely dependent on the annealing atmosphere. Warm-white photoluminescence with a broad emission band covering nearly the whole visible spectrum is obtained for the Li-doped ZnO films annealed in helium. The substitutional and interstitial extrinsic point defects created by lithium doping may mediate the relative concentration of the intrinsic defects and thereby tune the intrinsic-defect-related visible emission. The enhanced intensity ratio of near-band-edge ultraviolet emission to deep-level visible emission with aging time may be ascribed to both in-diffusion of oxygen from air and self-diffusion of oxygen interstitials to heal the oxygen vacancies during the aging process. - Highlights: → Photoluminescence of Li-doped ZnO depends largely on annealing atmosphere. → Warm-white photoluminescence is obtained for Li-doped ZnO annealed in He. → This photoluminescence illustrates its promising application as white phosphor. → Both substitutional and interstitial lithium exist in ZnO matrix. → Visible emissions of ZnO are tuned indirectly by extrinsic lithium.