Sb-Doped ZnO microwires: emitting filament and homojunction light-emitting diodes

Abstract

Individual Sb-doped ZnO (ZnO:Sb) microwires with durable and reproducible p-type conduction have been synthesized, and by increasing the Sb₂O₃ weight ratios in the precursor mixtures, tunable p-type conduction characteristics can be obtained. Meanwhile, wavelength-tuning electroluminescence (EL) has been observed by applying bias onto individual ZnO:Sb microwires, in which the ZnO:Sb microwires act as emitting filaments. The as-synthesized p-type ZnO:Sb microwires are applied to fabricate homojunction light-emitting devices. The corresponding p–n junction demonstrates excellent diode characteristics, and strong near band edge emissions can be observed with the dominant EL emission wavelengths centered at 400 nm. The results demonstrated the emitting filament characteristics of ZnO:Sb microwires for the first time, and also demonstrated their applicability in homojunction light-emitting diodes, and thus may offer alluring prospects as compact, efficient, reliable building blocks for microscale light sources.