Infiltrated ainc oxide in poly(methyl methacrylate): An atomic cycle growth study

Leonidas E. Ocola*, Aine Connolly, David J. Gosztola, Richard D. Schaller, Angel Yanguas-Gil

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

We have investigated the growth of zinc oxide in a polymer matrix by sequential infiltration synthesis (SiS). The atomic cycle-by-cycle self-terminating reaction growth investigation was done using photoluminescence (PL), Raman, and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS). Results show clear differences between Zn atom configurations at the initial stages of growth. Mono Zn atoms (O−Zn and O−Zn−O) exhibit pure UV emission with little evidence of deep level oxygen vacancy states (VO). Dimer Zn atoms (O−Zn−O−Zn and O−Zn−O−Zn−O) show strong UV and visible PL emission from VO states 20 times greater than that from the mono Zn atom configuration. After three precursor cycles, the PL emission intensity drops significantly exhibiting first evidence of crystal formation as observed with Raman spectroscopy via the presence of longitudinal optical phonons. We also report a first confirmation of energy transfer between polymer and ZnO where the polymer absorbs light at 241 nm and emits at 360 nm, which coincides with the ZnO UV emission peak. Our work shows that ZnO dimers are unique ZnO configurations with high PL intensity, unique O1s oxidation states, and sub-10 ps absorption and decay, which are interesting properties for novel quantum material applications.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1893-1903
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Physical Chemistry C
Volume121
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 26 2017

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Energy(all)
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Surfaces, Coatings and Films

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Infiltrated ainc oxide in poly(methyl methacrylate): An atomic cycle growth study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this