%0 Journal Article
%T Wet Chemical Preparation of Nanoparticles ZnO:Eu3+ and ZnO:Tb3+ with Enhanced Photoluminescence
%A Tran Kim Anh
%A Dinh Xuan Loc
%A Nguyen Tu
%A Pham Thanh Huy
%A Le Minh Anh Tu
%A Le Quoc Minh
%J Journal of Photonics
%D 2014
%R 10.1155/2014/684601
%X ZnO doped with Eu3+ and Tb3+ had been successfully prepared by wet chemical method with the assistance of microwave. The influence of reaction conditions such as temperature, time, content of Eu3+, Tb3+ ion, and annealing treatment on the structure and luminescent characteristics was studied. The analysis of energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and photoluminescence spectra measurements indicated that Eu3+ and Tb3+ exist in host lattice and create the new emission region compared to ZnO crystalline host lattice. The field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) studies show the Eu3+, Tb3+ doped ZnO nanoparticles have a pseudohexagonal shape. The particle size was 30¨C50£¿nm for ZnO:Eu3+ and 40¨C60£¿nm for ZnO:Tb3+. Photoluminescence excitation (PLE) and photoluminescence (PL) spectra at room temperature have been studied to recognize active centers for characteristic luminescence of ZnO:Eu3+ and ZnO:Tb3+. The characteristic luminescent lines of Eu3+ (5D0-7Fj) and Tb3+ (5D4-7Fj) were determined. It has been demonstrated that the wet chemical synthesis method with microwave assistance can strongly enhance the luminescent intensity of nanoparticles ZnO:Eu3+ in red and ZnO:Tb3+ in green. 1. Introduction Rare earth (RE) doped ZnO has been increasingly taking an important role in optoelectronics and photonics [1, 2]. In several industrial branches such as ceramics, rubber additives, pigments, and medicines, ZnO has been widely used. ZnO represents as a wide-band gap semiconductor (Eg£¿=£¿3.37£¿eV at 300£¿K) with a large exciton binding energy (60£¿meV), exhibiting near UV emission and piezoelectricity with high optical gain. ZnO is also biosafe and biocompatible and may be used for biomedical applications. Recently, the discovery of the ultraviolet laser and piezoelectric and photocatalysis properties of ZnO nanostructures has triggered several new applications. Various physical and chemical routes, such as physical vapor deposition, thermal evaporation, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), metal-organic chemical vapor deposition, and colloidal wetting chemical synthesis, have been used to prepare a wide range of ZnO nanostructures [3¨C12]. These superior properties of ZnO make it suitable for short-wavelength optoelectronic devices application such as light emitting diodes, laser diodes, and room-temperature UV laser diodes [13]. Furthermore, ZnO:RE nanoparticles, nanorods, nanowires, nanobelts, and thin films with their unique structure properties and physical properties have been widely fabricated in using the different wet chemical solution methods [14¨C20]. In
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jpho/2014/684601/