Photoluminescence of ZnTe nanowires prepared by electrochemical etching of bulk ZnTe

Abstract

We demonstrate the preparation of ZnTe nanowires with the diameter of 50 nm from bulk p-type ZnTe by means of electrochemical treatment in a pulse regime. The nanowires demonstrate photoluminescence characteristics identical to those of the initial bulk material. The luminescence is shown to come from recombination of excitons bound to an acceptor and from recombination of two types of donor-acceptor pairs involving a shallow acceptor and two species of donors, one of which is shallow, and another one is deep. Since the initial crystals are doped with Na, it is suggested that the acceptor involved in all these three transitions is related to Na.