Synthesis and Optical Properties of Boron Nitride Nanotubes, Nanowires and Nanorods

ARC Centre of Excellence in Functional Nanomaterials, Australian National University

Wednesday, 24 October 2007, 2.30pm, EW302, (via Level 3, EN Building), Hawthorn.

Quasi-one-dimensional boron nitride (BN) nanomaterials such as nanotubes, nanowires, and nanorods have different nanostructures but uniform electronic band gaps. Their quantum confinement effects in these low-dimensional materials can enhance their optical emission substantially by inducing an indirect-to-direct conversion of the optical transition. Different nanostructures and dimensions have different emission behaviors. Therefore, one-dimensional BN nanomaterials are likely to find wide applications in optoelectronics. We have achieved controlled and patterned growth of the BN nanotubes , BN nanowires and conical boron nitride nanorods and investigated systematically their optical properties using photoluminescence, cathodoluminescence and Raman spectroscopy. BN nanotube is also a wide-band-gap semiconductor and thus an ideal host material for rare-earth ions doping for visible light emission. Europium (Eu) doped BN nanotubes have been synthesized by using a ball-milling and annealing method. A broad visible light emission, excited by electrons, from the Eu²⁺ doped BN nanotubes has been realized. The mechanism of visible light emission from the Eu-doped BN nanotubes will be discussed.

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