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Optical and structural properties of MgZnO/ZnO hetero- and double heterostructures grown by pulsed laser deposition

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Abstract

MgZnO thin films, MgZnO/ZnO heterostructures (HS) and double heterostructures (DHS) have been prepared on a-plane sapphire substrates by means of pulsed laser deposition (PLD). A linear blueshift of the MgZnO emission with increasing Mg content is observed in photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) at 2 K. Cathodoluminescence measurements verify the spatial homogeneity of the emission properties of the MgZnO films. The film roughness is evaluated from atomic force microscopy scans. In MgZnO/ZnO HS the ZnO grows on all appearing MgZnO facets. PL investigations of such PLD-grown heterostructures show the high optical quality of thin ZnO films (d≤100 nm) grown on MgZnO. Capping those structures with a thin MgZnO layer further improves their luminescence intensity and enhances the emission of free-exciton luminescence from the ZnO layers. MgZnO/ZnO/MgZnO DHS with nominal ZnO layer thicknesses of dnom≤6 nm show a clear intensification of the ZnO PL. Temperature dependent PL and transmission measurements between 4.4 and 300 K prove the dominating emission to be due to the recombination of excitons localized in the ZnO. At 2 K, due to confinement effects, their emission energy is blueshifted up to 51 meV compared to free excitons in bulk ZnO.

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Correspondence to S. Heitsch.

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PACS

81.15.Fg; 78.66.Hf; 68.37.Ps

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Heitsch, S., Benndorf, G., Zimmermann, G. et al. Optical and structural properties of MgZnO/ZnO hetero- and double heterostructures grown by pulsed laser deposition. Appl. Phys. A 88, 99–104 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-007-3953-5

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