Optical and structural properties of nanostructured CeO2:Tb3+ film

Nanostructured CeO2:Tb3+ film has been fabricated on glass substrate through sol–gel technique via dip-coating process. (NH4)2Ce(NO3)6, Tb(NO3)3·6H2O, ethylene glycol have been used as precursors for sol preparation. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV/VIS and photoluminescence (PL) spectral studies have been employed to analyze the structural and optical properties of the film. XRD pattern has been used to analyze the crystallite nature and calculated particle size by Scherrer equation of nanostructured CeO2:Tb3+ film, found in the range 3–4 nm. SEM image has been observed to analyze the surface topography of the film which is well porous, highly agglomerated and uniformly distributed nanoparticles on the film surface. Optical band gap of nanostructured CeO2:Tb3+ film has been estimated as 3.57 eV. A significant enhancement in band shape of CeO2:Tb3+ spectrum has been observed in PL spectra, showed their promising usages as optical materials in optoelectronic devices.