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Observation Of Numerous E2 Mode Phonon Replicas In The Room Temperature Photoluminescence Spectra Of Zno Nanowires: Evidence Of Strong Deformation Potential Electron-Phonon Coupling, S. Ramanathan, S. Bandyopadhyay, L. K. Hussey, M. Muñoz

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

The authors report the observation of numerous (>20)phonon replica peaks in the room temperature photoluminescence spectrum of ZnOnanowires embedded in 50nm diameter pores of an anodic alumina film. The peaks are spaced in energy by ∼54meV, which is the energy of a nonpolar phonon with symmetry E2 in ZnO. These peaks are possibly caused by resonant phonon-assisted decay of photoexcited electrons to an impurity band, followed by radiative recombination. These results suggest that even though ZnO is strongly polar, deformation potential coupling to a nonpolar phonon mode may be stronger than Fröhlich coupling to polar phonon modes.