Growth and Properties of ZnO/Zn_1−x Mg _x O Core/Shell Nanoparticles

ZnO/Zn_0.9Mg_0.1O core/shell nanoparticles have been grown by employing metal cupferronate complex as precursors in organic solvents. ZnO cores are grown by quickly injecting their precursor at 250 °C while the shells are performed by slowly injecting their precursors at different temperatures. The grown nanoparticles are characterized by X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The effects of the shell growth temperatures and precursor injecting rate are studied. Zn_0.9Mg_0.1O shells can epitaxially grow on ZnO cores when the shell growth temperature is lowered to 200 °C and the shell precursor is supplied slowly at a rate of 0.1 mmol/h. Increaseing shell supply rate or shell growth temperature results in homogenous growth of Zn_0.9Mg_0.1O nanoparticles. The shell growth can dramatically enhance core emission and cause a red shift on the core band edge emission.