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Efficient upconversion of photoluminescence via two-photon absorption in bulk and nanorod ZnO

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Abstract

Efficient upconversion of photoluminescence from donor-bound excitons is revealed in bulk and nanorod ZnO. Based on excitation power-dependent PL measurements performed with different energies of excitation photons, two-photon absorption (TPA) and two-step TPA (TS-TPA) processes are concluded to be responsible for the upconversion. The TS-TPA process is found to occur via a defect/impurity (or defects/impurities) with an energy level (or levels) lying within 1.14–1.56 eV from one of the band edges, without involving photon recycling. One of the possible defect candidates could be VZn. A sharp energy threshold, different from that for the corresponding one-photon absorption, is observed for the TPA process and is explained in terms of selection rules for the involved optical transitions.

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Notes

  1. Due to a limited output power from a 661 nm diode laser, the UPL emission under this excitation could only be detected from the Cermet ZnO, i.e. in the sample which exhibits the highest PL intensity under one-photon excitation.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support by the Swedish Research Council (grant # 621-2010-3971) is greatly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology, Linköping University, 58183, Linköping, Sweden

    S. L. Chen, J. Stehr, W. M. Chen & I. A. Buyanova

  2. Department of Nanobio Materials and Electronics, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju, 500712, Republic of Korea

    N. Koteeswara Reddy & C. W. Tu

  3. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    C. W. Tu

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  1. S. L. Chen
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Correspondence to I. A. Buyanova.

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Chen, S.L., Stehr, J., Reddy, N.K. et al. Efficient upconversion of photoluminescence via two-photon absorption in bulk and nanorod ZnO. Appl. Phys. B 108, 919–924 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-012-5138-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-012-5138-y

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