Electroluminescence at 375 nm from a ZnO/GaN:Mg/c-Al2O3 heterojunction light emitting diode

n-ZnO/p-GaN:Mg heterojunction light emitting diode (LED) mesas were fabricated on c-Al2O3 substrates using pulsed laser deposition for the ZnO and metal organic chemical vapor deposition for the GaN:Mg. High crystal quality and good surface morphology were confirmed by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Room temperature (RT) photoluminescence (PL) showed an intense main peak at 375 nm and a negligibly low green emission indicative of a near band edge excitonic emission from a ZnO layer with low dislocation/defect density. The LEDs showed I-V characteristics confirming a rectifying diode behavior and a RT electroluminescence (EL) peaked at about 375 nm. A good correlation between the wavelength maxima for the EL and PL suggests that recombination occurs in the ZnO layer and that it may be excitonic in origin. This also indicates that there is significant hole injection from the GaN:Mg into the ZnO. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.