Oriented growth of luminescent strontium stannate films using a unilamellar nanosheet seed-layer

The fabrication of high quality luminescent strontium stannate (Sr0.98Eu0.02)2(Sn0.9Ti0.1)O4 films on a silica substrate was examined using a monolayer film of oxide nanosheets as a seed layer. Densely packed monolayer film of Ca2Nb3O10 nanosheets was prepared using the Langmuir–Blodgett technique. The monolayer film of Ca2Nb3O10 nanosheets induced the (110)-oriented growth of luminescent (Sr0.98Eu0.02)2(Sn0.9Ti0.1)O4 films. The grown films showed intense red luminescence assigned to the 5D0–7Fj (j = 0, 1, 2) transitions in Eu ions. The film's optical transparency in the visible region was more than 80% with large optical bandgap of 4.72 eV.

► We examine oriented growth of strontium stannate on a non-crystalline substrate.
► Unilamellar Ca2Nb3O10 nanosheet film enables oriented growth of strontium stannate.
► Oriented (Sr0.98Eu0.02)2(Sn0.9Ti0.1)O4 films exhibit intense red luminescence.
► Oriented (Sr0.98Eu0.02)2(Sn0.9Ti0.1)O4 films show very high visible transparency.