Electrical and optical characteristics of hydrogen-plasma treated ZnO nanoneedles

We report on optical characteristics as well as electron emission of hydrogen-plasma treated ZnO nanoneedle arrays. The nanoneedle arrays were vertically grown on Si substrates using catalyst-free metalorganic chemical vapor deposition and subsequently treated by hydrogen plasma at room temperature. After hydrogen plasma treatment, the field emission characteristic curves of nanoneedle arrays exhibited significantly reduced turn-on field and increased emission current density, and the electrical conductivity was increased. In addition, low temperature photoluminesence (PL) measurements indicate that a neutral-donor bound exciton PL peak intensity was increased by the hydrogen- plasma treatment. These effects of the plasma treatment on the physical properties may be explained in terms of hydrogen doping effect.