Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5025557 | Optik - International Journal for Light and Electron Optics | 2017 | 20 Pages |
Abstract
Europium doped ZnO (ZnO:Eu) nanocolumns were grown on indium tin oxide substrates (ITO) by electrodeposition method in zinc nitrate aqueous solution with different concentration of Eu. According to XRD results electrodeposited ZnO:Eu films exhibit thigh crystalline quality with a preferential orientation parallel to c-axis. Moreover, the (002) peak position shifts toward to lower angles confirming the incorporation of Eu+3 ions into the ZnO lattice. The crystallite size of a pure ZnO decreases when increasing the Eu doping. SEM images reveal a well dense nanocolumns arrays perpendicular to the surface. Furthermore, doping with Eu+3 ions leads to a change in the top of nanocolumns from hexagonal to conic-hexagonal shape. The average diameters of nanocolumns are found to be around 200Â nm and 180Â nm for undoped ZnO and Eu doped ZnO, respectively. Photoluminescence (PL) emission from ZnO:Eu thin films reveals the typical peaks related to excitons and intrinsic defects in ZnO and four narrow peaks in the red region attributed to 4f-shell transition in Eu+3 ions. As Eu doping increased, PL peaks related to Eu+3 emission showed an increase in intensity and a shift in its wavelength position. A schematic drawing of the excitation mechanism and related emission process is proposed.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Engineering
Engineering (General)
Authors
Abdelhak Nouri, Abdelkrim Beniaiche, Bernabé Marà Soucase, Hocine Guessas, Amor Azizi,