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Spectroscopic studies of Tm‐doped zirconia nanoparticles
Author(s) -
Soares M. R. N.,
Rino L.,
Costa F. M.,
Monteiro T.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
physica status solidi (b)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1521-3951
pISSN - 0370-1972
DOI - 10.1002/pssb.201200727
Subject(s) - monoclinic crystal system , luminescence , cubic zirconia , materials science , tetragonal crystal system , analytical chemistry (journal) , thulium , doping , ion , yttria stabilized zirconia , phosphor , mineralogy , crystallography , crystal structure , optoelectronics , chemistry , composite material , chromatography , ceramic , organic chemistry
Intra‐4f 12 transitions of Tm 3+ ions in zirconia powders processed by solution combustion synthesis (CS) were studied by optical techniques. The results were compared with the ones obtained in reference samples of yttria stabilized zirconia fibers grown by laser floating zone. The spectroscopic features observed for the tetragonal fibre were compared with the Stark lines detected in the polyphasic (monoclinic and tetragonal) powder suggesting additional Tm 3+ sites/environments due to the ions in the monoclinic host. The stability of the blue 1 D 2 → 3 F 4 and red 1 G 4 → 3 H 6 transitions was found to be strongly dependent on temperature. For the fibres, the blue luminescence increases by a factor of two between 15 K and the room temperature when pumping the sample in the 1 D 2 level. When the excitation is performed in the 1 G 4 state a higher stability of the red luminescence was found to occur in fibres than in the polyphasic powder. Constant 1 G 4 → 3 H 6 integrated intensity was observed in the fibres, while a decrease of the red luminescence efficiency occurs with temperature for the polyphasic powder. The suppression of the nonradiative paths which compete with the radiative transition could be attained by using thulium doped yttria stabilized CS powders.