Low-temperature growth and blue luminescence of SnO2 nanoblades

Large-scale SnO2 nanoblades have been synthesized on a glass substrate covered with a 100-nm-thick SnO2 buffer layer in a controlled aqueous solution at temperatures below 100 degrees C. Typical widths of the nanoblades were about 100-300 nm and the lengths were up to 10 mu m, depending on the growth temperature. The thicknesses were about a few tens of nanometers. Transmission electron microscopy data, x-ray diffraction patterns, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectral analyses confirmed that the as-grown nanoblades had the phase structure of the rutile form of SnO2 growing along the [110] direction. No other impurities, such as elemental Sn and tin oxides, were detected. An intense blue luminescence centered at a wavelength of 445 nm with a full width at half maximum of 75 nm was observed in the as-grown SnO2 nanoblades, which is different from the yellow-red light emission observed in SnO2 nanostructures prepared by other methods. It is believed that the strong blue luminescence from the as-grown SnO2 nanoblades is attributed to oxygen-related defects that have been introduced during the growth process. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.