Influence of pulsed laser annealing on the optical properties of ZnO nanorods

The effect of pulsed laser annealing (PLA) on the photoluminescence (PL) properties of ZnO nanorods was investigated. As the fluence of pulsed laser increases, the UV PL in ZnO nanorods shows a general increasing trend, except at a range of fluences from 10 to 70 mJ/cm2. It is found that the treatment with the PLA at the fluence of 70 mJ/cm2 leads to a larger improvement of crystalline properties than that with rapid thermal annealing (RTA). The relationship between PL intensity and fluence of pulsed lasers can be well explained by a combination of the deterioration in surface crystallinity and the increased donor densities after PLA.