Novel Green Luminescent and Phosphorescent Material: Semiconductive Nanoporous ZnMnO with Photon Confinement

A novel green luminescent and phosphorescent material of semiconductive nanoporous ZnMnO was synthesized by the thermal nucleation of nanopores in the 20-period Zn_0.93Mn_0.07O/Zn_0.65Mn_0.35O multilayer structure. Nanoporous ZnMnO showed an n-type semiconducting property and exhibited an extremely strong green light emission in its luminescence and phosphorescence characteristics. This arises from the formation of the localized energy level (i.e., green emission band) within the energy band gap and the confinement of photons. The results suggest nanoporous ZnMnO to have a great potential for the new type of semiconducting green phosphors and semiconductor light-emitting diodes with lower thresholds, producing an efficient light emission. In-depth analyses on the structural, electrical, and optical properties are thoroughly examined, and the formation mechanism of nanoporous ZnMnO and the origin of the strong green light emission are discussed.