SnO2 has been extensively applied in the fields of optoelectronic devices because of its large band gap, high exciton binding energy, and outstanding optical/electrical properties. However, its applications in ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are still hindered by the dipole-forbidden rule. Herein, the dipole-forbidden rule can be conquered by synthesizing Sb-incorporated SnO2 microwires (SnO2:Sb MWs), which are examined by ultraviolet photoluminescence emitting at 363.2 nm and a line width of 11.3 nm. Subsequently, a highly monochromatic ultraviolet light-emitting diode (LED) based on a SnO2:Sb MW heterojunction was constructed with a p-GaN film serving as the hole supplier. In the LED, the presence of a MgO intermediate layer can modulate carrier transport and recombination path, thus achieving band-edge optical transition in the SnO2:Sb MW. As the LED is modified using Ag nanowires, electrical properties, especially for the hole injection efficiency, were dramatically boosted, contributing significantly to the device high brightness. The LED emits at 365.9 nm and a line width of 12.4 nm. Therefore, we have realized a high-brightness and narrow-band ultraviolet LED with the shortest peak wavelength never seen in previously reported SnO2 LEDs. This work will promote the potential applications of low-dimensional SnO2 optoelectronic devices and provide an effective exemplification to overcome the dipole-forbidden rule in metal-oxide materials with "forbidden" energy gaps.
Keywords: SnO2:Sb wire; dipole-forbidden rule; energy-band alignment; highly monochromatic; hole tunneling; ultraviolet LED.