Photoluminescence characteristics of ZnO doped with Eu3+ powders

In this work, we have investigated the photoluminescence spectra of europium-doped zinc oxide crystallites prepared by a vibrating milled solid-state reaction method. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, luminescence spectra and time-resolved spectra analysis were used to characterize the synthetic ZnO:Eu3+ powders. XRD results of the powders showed a typical wurtzite hexagonal crystal structure. A second phase occurred at 5 mol% Eu2O3-doped ZnO. The 5D0–7F1 (590 nm) and 5D0–7F2 (609 nm) emission characteristics of Eu3+ appeared after quenching with more than 1.5 mol% Eu2O3 doping. The Commission Internationale d’Eclairage (CIE) chromaticity coordinates of a ZnO:Eu3+ host excited at λex=467 nm revealed a red-shift phenomenon with increase in Eu3+ ion doping. The lifetime of the Eu3+ ion decreased as the doping concentration was increased from 1.5 to 10 mol%, and the time-resolved 5D0→7F2 transition presents a single-exponential decay behavior.