Emission and structure varieties in ZnO:Ag nanorods obtained by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis

Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), X ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL) have been applied to the study of the structural and optical properties of ZnO nanocrystals prepared by the ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) at different temperatures. The variation of temperatures and times at the growth of ZnO films permits modifying the ZnO phase from the amorphous to crystalline, to change the size of ZnO nanocrystals (NCs), as well as to vary their photoluminescence spectra. The study has revealed three types of PL bands in ZnO NCs: defect related emission, the near-band-edge (NBE) PL, related to the LO phonon replica of free exciton (FE) recombination, and FE second-order diffraction peaks. The PL bands related to the LO phonon replica of FE in PL spectra measured at room temperature testify on the high quality of ZnO films prepared by the USP technology.