Abstract
Prominences amongst several features of ZnO are its wide band gap of ~3.35 eV and large exiton binding energy of ~60 meV. Since these properties are of great benefit in terms of optical devices such as ultraviolet (UV) emitters and diode lasers many endeavors to gain high luminance have been made. We report on the cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra of the highly oriented ZnO whiskers deposited on the single crystalline sapphire substrate. The ZnO whiskers indicate an intense and sharp UV emission peaked at 385 nm in wavelength. Furthermore, we found that the intensity of UV emission can be considerably increased by enlarging surface area of ZnO whiskers.
