Ultraviolet electroluminescence from colloidal ZnO quantum dots in an all-inorganic multilayer light-emitting device

We report ultraviolet (UV) electroluminescence (EL) at 3.30 eV of colloidal ZnO quantum dots (QDs) in an inorganic multilayer thin-film EL device. The EL spectrum was identical to the photoluminescence spectrum of the source solution of ZnO QDs, and the emission is attributable to quantum confined electron hole pair recombination. The UV emission was successful when the ZnO QD layer was sandwiched by thin MgO layers, while only a defect-related visible emission appeared without MgO layers. The type-I quantum well structure of MgO/ZnO/MgO and surface passivation of ZnO QDs by MgO must be important for the UV EL emission. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3682307]