Study of NaCl:Mn2+ nanostructures in the Suzuki phase by optical spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy

NaCl:Mn2+ nanostructures in the Suzuki phase have been studied by fluorescence (emission and excitation) spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) as a function of temperature. The “as-grown” samples give rise to two broad emission bands that peak at 508 (green emission) and 610 nm (red emission). The excitation spectrum shows peaks at 227 nm and 232 nm for emission wavelengths at 508 nm and 610 nm, respectively. When the samples are heated continuously from room temperature up to 220 °C, the green emission (associated to the excitation peak at 227 nm) disappears at a temperature close to 120 °C, whilst only the red emission remains, which is characteristic of manganese ions. AFM images on the (0 0 1) surface (freshly cleaved) show several conformations of nanostructures, such as disks of 20-50 nm in diameter. Particularly, the images also reveal nanostructures with rectangular shape of ~280×160 nm2 and ~6 nm height; these are present only in samples with green emission associated to the Suzuki phase. Then, the evidence suggests that this topographic configuration might be related to the interaction with the first neighbors and the next neighbors, according to the configuration that has been suggested for the Suzuki phase.