Blue and ultraviolet cathodoluminescence from Mn-doped epitaxial ZnO thin films

Combinatorial laser molecular-beam epitaxy method was employed to fabricate epitaxial Zn1−xMnxO thin films in a high throughput fashion. Local structures around Mn were investigated for these c-axis-oriented epitaxial films by fluorescence x-ray absorption fine structure measurements. It was shown that Mn substitutionally replaces Zn in Zn1−xMnxO (x<0.22) films. Well-structured blue and ultraviolet cathodoluminescence peaks corresponding to the intra-d-shell transitions of Mn2+ were observed, especially for smaller x. The luminescence is quenched rapidly as x is increased. By comparing the relative absorption strength per mole Mn2+ with the statistical probability of isolated Mn2+, it was concluded that the quick decrement of isolated Mn2+ with increasing x is responsible for the severe suppression of the blue and ultraviolet luminescence.