Dependence of luminescent properties and crystal structure of Li-doped ZnO nanoparticles upon Li content

This study examines the effect of Li content on the luminescent and structural properties of LixZn1−xO nanoparticles by scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, photoluminescence (PL) and Raman scattering measurements. A dependence of luminescent properties and crystal structure upon Li content was found. The intensity of the band-edge luminescence of Li0.10Zn0.90O nanoparticles was nearly 10 times higher than that of the ZnO nanoparticles. This is because of the combined effect of the improved crystallinity and a decrease in the probability of nonradiative recombination. However, the incorporation of excess Li into ZnO degrades the PL intensity due to the combined effect of the weakened crystallinity and the increased probability of nonradiative recombination.