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UV cathodoluminescence of Gd 3+ doped and Gd 3+ Pr 3+ co‐doped YAlO 3 epitaxial thin films
Author(s) -
Shimizu Yuhei,
Ueda Kazushige,
Takashima Hiroshi,
Inaguma Yoshiyuki
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
physica status solidi (a)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.532
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1862-6319
pISSN - 1862-6300
DOI - 10.1002/pssa.201431778
Subject(s) - cathodoluminescence , photoluminescence , doping , analytical chemistry (journal) , materials science , excitation , epitaxy , pulsed laser deposition , absorption (acoustics) , thin film , irradiation , ion , luminescence , optoelectronics , chemistry , physics , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , chromatography , layer (electronics) , nuclear physics , quantum mechanics , composite material
Thin films of YAlO 3 :Gd 3+ and YAlO 3 :Gd 3+ Pr 3+ were prepared on LaAlO 3 (001) single crystal substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Both films were grown epitaxially and their surfaces were uniformly smooth. Under UV excitation at 216 nm, YAlO 3 :Gd 3+ film did not show any intense photoluminescence (PL); on the other hand, YAlO 3 :Gd 3+ Pr 3+ film showed intense Gd 3+ PL at 314 nm through Pr 3+ 4f–5d absorption. Under electron irradiation with acceleration of 2.00 kV, both films showed UV cathodoluminescence (CL) from Gd 3+ ions. In contrast to PL, the CL intensity of the YAlO 3 :Gd 3+ film was four times greater than that of the YAlO 3 :Gd 3+ Pr 3+ film. The PL excitation spectrum of YAlO 3 :Gd 3+ in vacuum UV region revealed the presence of an intense excitation band at 155 nm assignable to YAlO 3 host absorption. This observation implied that the energy of accelerated electrons was absorbed by the host and then transferred to Gd 3+ . Pr 3+ co‐doping was found to weaken the Gd 3+ emission in CL because the excitation energy absorbed by the host was transferred to not only Gd 3+ but also Pr 3+ accompanying visible emission and nonradiative transition in Pr 3+ .