Raman study of structural disorder in ZnO nanopowders

Raman scattering spectroscopy has been used for the characterization of zinc oxide nanoparticles obtained by mechanical activation in a high-energy vibro-mill and planetary ball mill. Raman modes observed in spectra of nonactivated sample are assigned to Raman spectra of the ZnO monocrystal, while the spectra of mechanically activated samples point out to the structural and stoichiometric changes, depending on the milling time and the choice of equipment. Observed redshift and peak broadening of the E2(high) and E1 (LO) first-order Raman modes are attributed to increased disorder induced by mechanical milling, followed by the effects of phonon confinement due to correlation length decrease. The additional modes identified in Raman spectra of activated ZnO samples are related to the surface optical phonon modes, due to the intrinsic surface defects and presence of ZrO(2)as extrinsic defects introduced by milling in zirconia vials. Copyright (C) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.