Structural and optical characterization of CdSe nanocrystallites/rare earth ions in sol-gel glasses

Sol-gel method is used to prepare semiconductor cadmium selenide nanocrystallites together with europium and terbium ions in silica matrix. From the electron diffraction pattern in the transmission electron micrograph (TEM), the plane distances (d) were estimated to be 1.072 Å, 1.233 Å and 2.149 Å, which match the (2 1 4), (3 0 0) and (1 1 0) planes of bulk CdSe. The intensity of characteristic red emission of Europium (Eu3+) and green emission of Terbium (Tb3+) ions increases considerably in the presence of CdSe particles. The blue emission is prominent in the glass samples in the gel stage. The purity of the colors are measured using the Commission Internationale de Eclairage (CIE) color coordinate diagram and is found to be 100% for RED and GREEN.