Study of the influence of dopant precursor on the growth and properties of Li-doped ZnO

Lithium-doped ZnO structures with sizes in the micro- and nano-scale and different morphologies were obtained by vaporsolid growth method. Two different precursors, lithium oxide and lithium carbonate, were used as the lithium source in order to study the influence on the morphology and optical properties of the obtained structures. Scanning electron microscopy, cathodoluminescence, photoluminescence, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize their structure, morphology, composition and optical properties. Depending on the lithium content present, changes in the crystalline quality and the luminescent intensity of the samples were observed. Optical resonant cavity behavior was also observed in some of the nano-structures.