ZnO nanostructure materials have attracted interests again when researchers found they had quite different characteristics from the ZnO bulk materials. The ZnO nanostructure materials with small size could greatly confine carriers and excitons so as to enhance the raditive recombination. Hence it is generally accepted that the ZnO nanostructure materials have bright future in nano-scale optical and electrical applications. Near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) is suitable for studying the optical properties of ZnO nanostructure material....[ Read more ]

ZnO nanostructure materials have attracted interests again when researchers found they had quite different characteristics from the ZnO bulk materials. The ZnO nanostructure materials with small size could greatly confine carriers and excitons so as to enhance the raditive recombination. Hence it is generally accepted that the ZnO nanostructure materials have bright future in nano-scale optical and electrical applications. Near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) is suitable for studying the optical properties of ZnO nanostructure material.

My researches are focused on ZnO nanowires as well as ZnO nanobelts. Although the optical properties of ZnO nanowires show no difference from ZnO bulk materials, I accidentally observed the PL degradation of ZnO nanowires when they are placed in moist air. With the XPS results I forwarded three possibilities that the changes of ZnO nanowires could cause the PL degradation. In order to understand the mechanism of PL degradation, I studied the ZnO nanowire sample in moist air with TEM and XRD, and repeated the process of PL degradation of new sample. Finally, it is concluded that the surface of the ZnO nanowires could easily absorb the carbon dioxide in moist air and the increasing defect concentration cause the PL degradation.