Enhancement of band-edge emission induced by defect transition in the composite of ZnO nanorods and CdSe/ZnS quantum dots

A new and general approach to enhance band-edge emission at the expense of defect emission in a semiconductor nanocomposite is proposed. The underlying mechanism is based on the resonance effect between defect transition and band-to-band excitation and transfer of excited electrons between conduction band edges. With our approach, it is possible to convert defect loss into bandgap emission. As an example, we demonstrate that the bandgap emission of ZnO nanorods can be enhanced by as much as 30 times when they are compounded with CdSe/ZnS nanoparticles. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.