Influence of annealing temperature on structural and optical properties of SiO2:RE2O3 [REÂ =Â Y, Gd] powder

SiO2:RE2O3 [RE = Y, Gd] powder were prepared by wet chemical technique and the prepared binary oxides annealed at 500 °C and 900 °C. The crystalline structure, phase transformation, and surface morphologies of as-prepared and annealed samples were investigated by XRD and TEM. The normal transmission was measured using FTIR spectroscopy. Optical properties have been studied with UV-Vis spectroscopy and PL study. XRD results shows that the as prepared samples of SiO2:RE2O3 [RE = Y, Gd] powder has mixed phases of RE(NO3)3 and Si(OH)3. However, cubic rare earth oxide phase alone is found for annealed samples. The strain values are calculated from W-H plot for annealed samples. TEM micrograph shows that the samples are composed of individual spherical nanocrystallites at 500 °C and aggregated nanocrystallites at 900 °C. From the UV-Vis spectra, it is found that the position of the absorption peak is shifted toward the higher wavelength side when annealing temperature is increased. In the PL spectra, the broad emission bands are observed between 570-600 nm and the presence of O-Si-O (silica) and metal oxide is confirmed by FTIR spectra.