Electroluminescence from n-ZnO nanowires/p-GaN heterostructure light-emitting diodes

The investigation explores the fabrication and characteristics of ZnO nanowire (NW)/p-GaN/ZnO NW heterojunction light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Vertically aligned ZnO NWs arrays were grown on the p-GaN substrate. The n-p-n heterojunction LED was fabricated by combining indium tin oxide/glass substrate with the prepared ZnO NWs/p-GaN substrate. The symmetrical rectifying behavior demonstrates that the heterostructure herein was formed with two p-n junction diodes and connected back to back. The room-temperature electroluminescent emission peak at 415 nm was attributed to the band offset at the interface between n-ZnO and p-GaN and defect-related emission from ZnO and GaN. Finally, the photograph indicated the LED clearly emitted blue light.