Photoluminescence from doped ZnS nanostructures

Photoluminescence (PL) properties of differently doped nanocrystalline ZnS encapsulated by ZnO (ZnS/ZnO) are reported. It is found that in all cases aluminium as an extra/additional dopant leads to PL enhancement. In comparison to reported blue emitting bulk ZnS:Ag, or green emitting bulk ZnS:Cu, our nanocrystalline samples show a different PL emission profile. This observation is attributed to nanogranule formation, different dopant levels and ZnO capping related energy level modifications.