Synthesis of Ge-doped SnO2 nanowires and their photoluminescence propertiess

Abstract

We synthesized Ge-doped SnO2 nanowires by heating a mixture of Sn and Ge powders. The dominant growth mechanisms turned out to be a vapor-solid (VS) process. Photoluminescence (PL) study at 7 K revealed that 2.2 eV-band and 2.6 eV-bands have been significantly intensified and reduced, respectively, by introducing the Ge elements. With the assistance of XPS and Raman spectra, we suggested that the intensification of 2.2 eV-band originated from the GeO2 phase. Since XRD spectra, low-magnification transmission electron microscopy (TEM) image and selected area electron diffraction coincidentally negated the presence of crystalline GeO2 phase, we suggest that the GeO2 structure is mainly amorphous.