Monochromatic orange emission under blue and green excitation from Eu3+ doped ZnO-Y2O3 luminomagnetic microcomposite

A hybrid composite material of two very important oxide materials ZnO and Y2O3 has been prepared with appropriate doping of Eu3+ ion to render unique monochromatic orange light emitting property under blue and green excitation. Improved photoluminescence (PL) and magnetic properties have been achieved in the microcomposite ZnO-Y2O3:Eu3+ compared to the end oxide components ZnO:Eu3+ and Y2O3:Eu3+ with identical concentration of rare earth Eu3+ ion. The PL excitation spectra exhibit a predominant peak at 466 nm and monochromatic orange emission at 610 nm was observed from ZnO-Y2O3:Eu3+. Such intense orange emitting rare earth doped composite material exhibit paramagnetic behavior. Synthesis of rare-earth doped composite thus provides a new route for getting unique optical and magnetic properties.