Influence of coating and annealing on the luminescence of Ga₂O₃ nanowires

Ga2O3-core/CdO-shell nanowires were synthesized by a two step process comprising thermal evaporation of GaN powders and sputter-deposition of CdO. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses revealed that the cores and the shells of the annealed coaxial nanowires were single crystal of monoclinic Ga2O3 and FCC CdO, respectively. As-synthesized Ga2O3 nanowires showed a broad emission band at approximately 460 nm in the blue region. The blue emission intensity of the Ga2O3 nanowires was slightly decreased by CdO coating, but it was significantly increased by subsequent thermal annealing in a reducing atmosphere. The major emission peak was also shifted from ~500 nm by annealing in a reducing atmosphere, which is attributed to the increases in the Cd interstitial and O vacancy concentrations in the cores.