Vertical Nanowire Array-Based Light Emitting Diodes

Electroluminescence from a nanowire array-based light emitting diode is reported. The junction consists of a p-type GaN thin film grown by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) and a vertical n-type ZnO nanowire array grown epitaxially from the thin film through a simple low temperature solution method. The fabricated devices exhibit diode like current–voltage behavior. Electroluminescence is visible to the human eye at a forward bias of 10 V and spectroscopy reveals that emission is dominated by acceptor to band transitions in the p-GaN thin film. It is suggested that the vertical nanowire architecture of the device leads to waveguided emission from the thin film through the nanowire array.