X-ray excited optical luminescence from hexagonal boron nitride nanotubes: electronic structures and the role of oxygen impurities.

We report a study on the optical luminescence properties and the electronic structures of boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs). BNNTs with natural B (80% (11)B and 20% (10)B) and pure (10)B are investigated in comparison with hexagonal BN crystals using X-ray absorption near-edge structures (XANES) and X-ray excited optical luminescence (XEOL). We find that the BNNT specimen synthesized with natural B contains more oxide impurities than that with pure (10)B, resulting in significantly different behavior in optical luminescence. All BN samples with hexagonal structures are found to emit strong luminescence, but the emission spectra are strongly morphology- and structure-dependent. XEOL and XANES measurements were carried out at the B K-edge, N K-edge, and O K-edge in order to reveal the origin of different luminescence channels and the corresponding electronic structures in these BN materials.