Observation of size-dependent features in the photoluminescence of zinc oxide nanocrystallites by near-field ultraviolet spectroscopy

Abstract
The optical properties of single zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocrystallites were investigated at room temperature by extending the optical near-field technique to the UV region. Using a UV fiber probe with a subwavelength aperture, we performed spatially- and spectrally-resolved photoluminescence (PL) imaging of individual ZnO nanocrystallites with a spatial resolution of 55 nm. Furthermore, decreasing the spot size increased the intensities of higher-energy components of the PL spectrum due to the quantum size effect.