Photoluminescence Characteristics of $Y_2O_3 : Eu^{3+}$ Nanophosphors Prepared Using Sol-Gel Thermolysis

Dhanaraj, J and Jagannathan, R and Kutty, TRN and Lu, Chung-Hsin (2001) Photoluminescence Characteristics of $Y_2O_3 : Eu^{3+}$ Nanophosphors Prepared Using Sol-Gel Thermolysis. In: Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 105 (45). pp. 11098-11105.

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Abstract

Red emitting cubic $Y_2O_3:Eu^{3+}$ nanophosphor with an average particle size in the range of 10-20 nm was synthesized using a more facile gel-polymer pyrolysis process. The maximum relative luminescence yield obtained for the nanophosphor prepared with a urea and PVA combination is about 30% in relation to the bulk $Y_2O_3:Eu^{3+}$ industrial red phosphor. The photoluminescence excitation spectrum monitoring the dominant hypersensitive $^5D_0$ \rightarrow $^7F_2$ red emission of $Eu^{3+}$ comprises two parts, viz., the dominant $Eu^{3+}-O^2$ chargetransfer band and a weak excitonic band (or its tail) corresponding to the $Y^{3+}-O^{2-}$ host matrix absorption. The relative strengths of these two bands have a strong dependence on the particle size. Furthermore, in this nanocrystalline insulator system having a band gap of about 6 eV, it is possible to observe a size dependent blue shift $(\sim 600 cm^{-1})$ in the photoluminescence excitation band corresponding to the Urbach tail region of the yttria host matrix. Both the bulk and nanocrystalline $Y_2O_3:Eu^{3+}$ show storage luminescence, a phenomenon previously unknown in this system. The mechanisms responsible for this appear to be different in these systems. The storage luminescence in the bulk system can be attributed to lattice defects, whereas that in the nanocrystalline counterpart is from a meta-stable, photoinduced surface-states arising from chemisorbed species.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Journal of Physical Chemistry B
Publisher:	American Chemical Society
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to American Chemical Society.
Department/Centre:	Division of Chemical Sciences > Materials Research Centre
Date Deposited:	16 Oct 2008 10:52
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:50
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/15951

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