Cathodoluminescence microscopy of hydrothermal and flux grown ZnO single crystals

Abstract

Bulk ZnO single crystals grown by the hydrothermal and flux methods have been characterized by steady-state and time resolved cathodoluminescence measurements performed on the different crystalline faces. A shift of the peak near band edge towards lower energies is observed in spectra recorded with increasing delay times. This behaviour is often observed in the etch pit regions in alkali flux grown crystals, which suggests the presence of a band related to dislocations or to the point defects surrounding the dislocations. In the low-energy region, cathodoluminescence spectra show that the relative intensity of the different components of the deep level band also depends on the atomic structure of the face under study. This complex behaviour is clearly revealed from the time resolved spectra. The differences observed are attributed to the nature of the defects present in each face and, in particular, to different impurity incorporation processes that could be mainly controlled by the atomic configuration and polarity of the planes.