Applicability of Langmuir equation to oxygen pressure dependent photoluminescence from β-Ga2O3 nanostructures

β-Ga2O3 nanostructures were synthesized via vapor transport method on gold coated Silicon substrate in N2 ambient. The as synthesized products were investigated by grazing incident X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. It is shown that the intensity of photoluminescence from the ensemble of β-Ga2O3 nanostructures in oxygen gas ambience is correlated with the oxygen pressure through the Langmuir equation. This correlation is found to be reversible and reproducible. This phenomenon, which was not observed in the bulk β-Ga2O3 single crystal, is attributed to the oxygen related shallow trap surface states of the nanostructures with energies at about 4.2 eV above the valance band. Based on the changes in the PL intensity with the oxygen pressures, a possible mechanism for the observed photoluminescence is suggested. The present results provide a route for room-temperature response of oxygen in the gallium oxide nanostructures.