Wavelength-tuned light emission via modifying the band edge symmetry: Doped SnO2 as an example

We report the observation of ultraviolet photoluminescence and electroluminescence in indium-doped SnO2 thin films with modified "forbidden" bandgap. With increasing indium concentration in SnO 2, dominant visible light emission evolves into the ultraviolet regime in photoluminescence. Hybrid functional first-principles calculations demonstrate that the complex of indium dopant and oxygen vacancy breaks "forbidden" band gap to form allowed transition states. Furthermore, undoped and 10% indium-doped SnO2 layers are synthesized on p-type GaN substrates to obtain SnO2-based heterojunction light-emitting diodes. A dominant visible emission band is observed in the undoped SnO 2-based heterojunction, whereas strong near-ultraviolet emission peak at 398 nm is observed in the indium-doped SnO2-based heterojunction. Our results demonstrate an unprecedented doping-based approach toward tailoring the symmetry of band edge states and recovering ultraviolet light emission in wide-bandgap oxides. © 2014 American Chemical Society.