Cathodoluminescence inhomogeneity in ZnO nanorods

Luminescence properties of vertically aligned, crystalline ZnO nanorods are studied by cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy and microscopy. Results show that luminescence characteristics vary dramatically with location on the nanorod as well as CL excitation depth. CL inhomogeneity is observed between the nanorod tip and sidewalls, accompanied by a variation in the chemical environment of surface oxygen ions as probed by photoemission spectroscopy. Our findings demonstrate that CL can provide useful information on the local optical properties of nanostructured materials, which is simply beyond the capability of other methods.