New route for low-temperature fabrication of Sr1−xPrxTiO3:Al3+ polycrystalline thin film phosphors

The preparation of Al3+-added perovskite titanate Sr1−xPrxTiO3:Al3+ (SPTO:Al) thin films that show strong red emission by an excimer laser assisted metal-organic-deposition (ELAMOD) process using XeCl and KrF lasers at temperatures below 400 °C in air was investigated, and SPTO:Al polycrystalline thin films were successfully grown by KrF laser irradiation with a fluence of 100 mJ/cm2 at 250 °C. The fabricated polycrystalline film has good crystallinity and clearly shows red emission. The PL emission peaks were observed at 493, 533 and 612 nm, which are assigned to the transitions of 3P0 → 3H4, 3P0 → 3H5 and 1D2 → 3H4 of Pr3+, respectively. The emission at 493 nm, corresponding to 3P0 → 3H4 transition, of the film prepared by ELAMOD is relatively strong compared to the film prepared by thermal process. This could be due to the local lattice distortion around Pr3+ generated by the laser irradiation.