Synthesis and optical characterization of pure and cobalt doped gallium nitride nanocrystals

Intrinsic and extrinsic gallium nitride (GaN) nanostructures, due to their size tunable photo-physical and photo-chemical behavior, have attracted great interest for the fabrication of various smart optoelectronic devices. In the present paper, Ga_1−xCo_xN (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1) nanocrystals have been synthesized by facile solvothermal method. Crystallographic characterization of synthesized materials has been done using powder X-ray diffraction technique. Recorded diffraction patterns reveal the formation of wurtzite (hexagonal) structured GaN nanocrystals. Electron microscopic studies have been carried for the detailed topographical and morphological analyses of synthesized nanomaterials. Recorded electron micrographs indicate the formation of nearly mono-disperse nanoparticles having average size ~4 nm. Spectroscopic studies like energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, UV–visible absorption, Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and steady state energy resolved and time resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy studies have been opted for the investigation of quantitative, qualitative and optical behavior of synthesized nanomaterials.