Terbium‐doped nanocrystalline phosphors

— Terbium‐doped ZnS and Y 2 O 3 nanocrystalline phosphors were prepared using room‐temperature organometallic synthesis and modified sol‐gel processing. The photoluminescent and photoluminescent‐excitation spectra of these materials reveal characteristic Tb 3+ emission ( d 5− f 7 transition). The intensities of the Tb 3+ emission in standard terbium‐doped LaOBr phosphor and terbium‐doped nanocrystalline yttria phosphor are compared. To date, the best photoluminescent efficiency of the nanocrystalline phosphors excited at 254 nm is about 50% of that of the standard phosphor.