Room temperature photoluminescence from ZnO quantum wells grown on (0001) sapphire using buffer assisted pulsed laser deposition

Efficient room temperature (RT) photoluminescence (PL) is achieved on ZnO multiple quantum wells (MQWs) grown on sapphire by pulsed laser deposition using a buffer assisted growth scheme. Absorption spectra of these MQWs at RT showed the excitonic features entwined with the band edges, which pointed to the excitonic nature of the PL transitions. At RT the band edge of these MQWs shifted from similar to 3.36 to 3.78 eV on decreasing the well layer thickness from similar to 4 to 1 nm. In the range from 10 K to RT, the PL spectral linewidth increased and the peak shifted monotonically towards red with increasing temperature. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.