Microwave-promoted pure host phase for red emission CaS：Eu2＋ phosphor from single CaSO4 precursor and the photoluminescence property

We report a novel approach to obtaining a classical blue-green excitable CaS：Eu2＋ phosphor with desired red emission by microwave （MW） firing procedure in the absence of adding elemental sulphur. The disturbing effect of MW electro- magnetic field on decomposition of CaSO4 into CaS activated by europium is distinctly observed to give pure host phase without adding any elemental sulphur and carbon. The host phase evolution is observed to be highly dependent on the variation of applied MW power from X-ray diffraction （XRD） patterns and the corresponding photoluminescence （PL）, and a maximum PL intensity at 1100 W of MW power is acquired for the obtained purer host phase. The non-thermal and non-equilibrium effects by MW are revealed to correlate with the interaction between polar structure of the host and applied electromagnetic field. The results demonstrate an optional procedure to prepare this red-emitting phosphor in an effective, environment-friendly and scalable approach for phosphor production in the application of bio-illumination for plant cultivation and artificial photosynthesis.     

Near-Infrared Femtosecond Laser Induced Defect Formation in High Purity Silica Below the Optical Breakdown Threshold

Optical absorption, electron spin resonance and photoluminescence spectra were used to study the defect forma-tion in high purity fused silica induced by a focused infrared femtosecond laser with the input intensity below damage threshold. Si E′ centres were formed in the silica. The number of Si E′ centre was found increasing linearly with power density of the fs laser, deviated from the increment photo-induced free carrier density. We concluded that the colour centres were formed at the defect sites that were newly generated by radiolysis of silica tetrahedral network and displacement of oxygen between two silicon atoms. Material structure is already modified even though the irradiation fs laser power was well below the damage threshold.     

Effect of charge compensation on emission spectrum of Ca2SiO4:Dy3+ phosphor

The Ca2SiO4:Dy3+ phosphor was synthesized by the high temperature solid-state reaction method in air.The emission spectrum of Ca2SiO4:Dy3+ phosphor shows several bands at 486, 575, and 665 nm under the 365-nm excitation. The effects of Li+, Na+, and K+ on the emission spectrum of Ca2SiO4:Dy3a+ phosphor were studied. The results show that the emission spectrum intensity is greatly influenced by Li+, Na+,and K+. The charge compensation concentration corresponding to the maximum emission intensity is different with different charge compensations.     

Morphology and photoluminescence of BaAl12O19:Mn2+ green phosphor prepared by flux method

This paper reports that the green phosphor BaAl11.9O19:0.1Mn2+ is prepared by a flux assisted solid state reaction method.The effect of flux systems on the crystal structure,morphology and luminescent properties of the phosphor are studied in detail.The samples are characterized by the application of x-ray diffraction patterns,scanning electron microscopy patterns,luminescent spectra and decay curves.The results show that a pure phase BaAl12O19 can be achieved at the firing temperature above 1300℃ by adding the proper flux system,the firing temperature is reduced at least 200℃ in comparison with the conventional solid state reaction method.Maximum photoluminescence emission intensity is observed at 517 nm for(AlF3+Li2CO3) flux system under vacuum ultraviolet region(147 nm) excitation.The photoluminescence emission intensity and the decay time of these phosphor is found to be more superior to that of the corresponding sample prepared by the conventional solid state reaction method implying the suitability of this route for the preparation of display device worthy phosphor materials.     

Optical Controlled Switch Behaviour of the ZnS：Cu and SrAl2O4：Eu Phosphors

We study the effects of a laser beam from the laser diode operating at 980nm on the violet-excited ZnS：Cu and SrAl2O4：Eu phosphor powders. Two contrary phenomena, i.e., infrared-induced permanent quenching and short-lived enhancement of phosphorescence, are observed. The defect levels play a significant role in both the processes. It is demonstrated that the phosphorescence induced by the violet beam can be controlled by another infrared beam. The turn-off and turn-on behaviour means that doping luminescent centres into host materials is a considerable way to design a new all-optical switch and may control the output of laser beams in the fibre lasers and optical communications.     

Influence of Defect Particles on Configuration of a Two-Dimensionally Confined Dusty Plasma

The behaviour of defect particles in a two-dimensional （2D） confined dusty plasma system is investigated by molecular dynamics （MD） simulations. The mean square displacement （MSD） and the pair correlation function g（r） are used to characterize the structural and dynamical properties of the system. The influences of the number and the charge （mass） of the defect particles on the system configurations are simulated. All the defect particles with charges （masses） larger than the normal particles have the trend to move towards the system centre. The moving speed of the defect particles towards the centre increases with the increasing number and charge （mass） of defect particles and with the system temperature.     

Electroluminescence and Photoluminescence from Scored Si—Rich SiO2 Film／p—Si Structure

Electroluminescence(EL)is observed from the Au/Si-rich SiO2 film/p-Si diodes,in which the Si-rich SiO2 films are scroed deliberately by a diamond tip.The EL intensity of the scroed diode annelaed at 800℃ is about 6 times of that of the unscored counterpart,The EL sectrum of the usscored diode could be decomposed into two Gaussian luminescence bands with peaks at about 1.83 and 2.23eV,while for the EL spectrum of the scored diode,an additional Gaussian band at about 3.0eV appears,and the 1.83-eV peak increases significantly in intensity,The photoluminescence(PL) spectrum of an unscored Si-rich SiO2 film has only one band peaking at about 1.48eV,whereas the Pl spectrum of the scored one has two bands at about 1.48 and 1.97eV.We consider that the high-density defect regions produced by the scoring provide new luminescence centres and become some types of nonradiative centres in the Si oxide layer,which thus result in changes of the EL and PL spectra.     

Nitrogen-Doped Chemical Vapour Deposited Diamond： a New Material for Room-Temperature Solid State Maser

Electron spin resonance （ESR） in polycrystalline diamond films grown by dc arc-jet and microwave plasma chemical vapour deposition is studied. The films with nitrogen impurity concentration up to 8 × 10^18 cm^-3 are also characterized by Raman, cathodoluminescence and optical absorption spectra. The ESR signal from P1 centre with g-factor of 2.0024 （nitrogen impurity atom occupying C site in diamond lattice） is found to exhibit an inversion with increasing the microwave power in an H102 resonator. The spin inversion effect could be of interest for further consideration of N-doped diamonds as a medium for masers operated at room temperature.     

Optical Waveguide Formed in Yb：KLu（WO4）2 Crystal by 6.0 MeV O^＋ Implantation

A planar optical waveguide is formed in monoclinic double rare-earth-tungstate laser crystal Yb：KLu（WO4）2 by 6.0 Me V oxygen ion implantation with a dose of 2 × 10^16 ions/cm^2 at room temperature. Subsequently, annealing at 300℃ for an hour in air is performed on the sample to decrease colour centres to improve the thermal stability of the waveguide. The refractive index profiles of the waveguide are reconstructed by an effective refractive index method. Dark modes of the waveguide are observed at wavelengths of 633 nm and 1539 nm. TRIM＇98 is used to simulate the damage profile caused by the implantation process. It is found that the refractive index change may be mainly due to the damage induced by the nuclear energy loss.     

Structure and photoluminescence properties of Er3+-doped TiO2-SiO2 powders prepared by sol-gel method

Er 3+-doped TiO 2-SiO 2 powders are prepared by the sol-gel method,and they are characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM),X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra,and Raman spectra of the samples.It is shown that the TiO 2 nanocrystals are surrounded by an SiO 2 glass matrix.The photoluminescence (PL) spectra are recorded at room temperature.A strong green luminescence and less intense red emission are observed in the samples when they are excited at 325 nm.The intensity of the emission,which is related to the defect states,is strongest at the annealing temperature of 800 C.The PL intensity of Er 3+ ions increases with increasing Ti/Si ratio due to energy transfer between nano-TiO 2 particles and Er 3+ ions.     

Hydrothermal Synthesis and Vacuum Ultraviolet-Excited Luminescence Properties of Novel Dy^3＋-doped GdPO4 White Light Phosphors

Novel Dy^3＋-doped GdPO4 white light phosphors with a monoclinic system are successfully synthesized by the hydrothermal method at 240℃. The strong absorption at around 147nm in the excitation spectrum is assigned to the host absorption. It is suggested that the vacuum ultraviolet excited energy is transferred from the host to the Dy^3＋ ions. The f - d transition of the Dy^3＋ ion is observed to be located at 182nm, which is consistent with the calculated value using Dorenbos＇s expression. Under 147nm excitation, Gd0.92PO4：0.08Dy^3＋ phosphor exhibits two emission bands located at 572 nm （yellow） and 478 nm （blue）, which correspond to the hypersensitive transitions ^4 F9/2-^6 H13/2 and ^4 F9/2-^6 H15/2. The two emission bands lead to the white light. Because of the strong absorption at about 147nm, Gd0.92PO4：0.08Dy^3＋ under vacuum ultraviolet excitation is an effective white light phosphor, and has promising applications to mercury-free lamps.     

Novel Dy^3＋-doped Gd（PO3）3 white-light phosphors under VUV excitation for Hg-free lamps application

Novel Dy3+-doped Gd(PO3)3 white light phosphors each with an orthorhombic system are successfully synthesized by solid-state reaction.The luminescence properties of white-light Gd1-x(PO3)3:xDy3+(0 x ≤ 0.25) under vacuum ultraviolet(VUV) excitation are investigated.The strong absorption at around 147 nm in excitation spectrum energy can be transferred to the energy levels of Dy3+ ion from the host absorption.Additionally,the white light phosphor is activated by a single Dy3+ ion.Therefore,the luminescence of Gd1-x(PO3)3:xDy(0 x ≤ 0.25) under VUV excitation is effective,and it has the promise of being applied to mercury-free lamps.     

Blue-to-Orange Tunable Luminescence from Europium Doped Yttrium--Silicon--Oxide--Nitride Phosphors

Europium-doped yttrium-silicon-oxide-nitride phosphors are synthesized by carbothermal reduction and nitridation method. The crystal structure of the phosphors changed gradually from oxide Y2Si2O7 to nitride YSi3N5 state with increasing dosage of Si3N4 and carbon powder. The Y2Si2O7：Eu phosphor shows a blue emission at 465 nm with 300 nm excitation and a characteristic red emission of Eu^3＋ at 612 nm with 230 nm excitation. The YSi3N5：EU phosphor shows a broad emission band centred at 595nm with some sharp peaks of Eu^3＋ with 325nm excitation. The absorption of the studied phosphors increases from 450 to 700hm with an increment in nitrogen content. Blue-to-orange tunable luminescence is observed with 390 nm excitation.     

Vacancy effect on the doping of silicon nanowires:A first-principles study

The influence of vacancy defect on the doping of silicon nanowires is systematically studied by the first-principles calculations. The atomic structures and electronic properties of vacancies and vacancy–boron(vacancy–phosphor) complexes in H-passivated silicon nanowire with a diameter of 2.3 nm are explored. The results of geometry optimization indicate that a central vacancy can exist stably, while the vacancy at the edge of the nanowire undergoes a local surface reconstruction, which results in the extradition of the vacancy out of the nanowire. Total-energy calculations indicate that the central vacancy tends to form a vacancy–dopant defect pair. Further analysis shows that n-type doping efficiency is strongly inhibited by the unintentional vacancy defect. In contrast, the vacancy defect has little effect on p-type doping.Our results suggest that the vacancy defect should be avoided during the growth and the fabrication of devices.     

The concentration quenching and crystallographic sites of Eu2+ in Ca2BO3Cl

A yellow phosphor, Ca2BO3CI：Eu2＋, is prepared by the high-temperature solid-state method. Under the condition of excitation sources ranging from ultraviolet to visible light, efficient yellow emission can be observed. The emission spectrum shows an asymmetrical single intensive band centred at 573 nm, which corresponds to the 4f65dl→4f7 transition of Eu2＋. Eu2＋ ions occupy two types of Ca2＋ sites in the Ca2BO3C1 lattice and form two corresponding emission centres, respectively, which lead to the asymmetrical emission of Eu2＋ in Ca2BO3C1. The emission intensity of Eu2＋ in Ca2BO3C1 is influenced by the Eu2＋ doping concentration. Concentration quenching is discovered, and its mechanism is verified to be a dipole-dipole interaction. The value of the critical transfer distance is calculated to be 2.166 nm, which is in good agreement with the 2.120 nm value derived from the experimental data.     

Structural Change in Au^3＋-Doped BK7 Glass Irradiated by Femtosecond Laser

We report on structural change in an Au^3＋-doped BK7 glass irradiated by an infrared femtosecond laser at 800 nm. A grating structure is inscribed in the glass sample. The glass sample is then annealed at various temperatures. Structural change of the grating is observed by an optical microscope. Absorption spectra indicate that colour centres are induced after the laser irradiation, and they decrease with increasing annealing temperature. Au nanoparticles are precipitated at high temperatures （≥ 600℃）. The mechanisms of the phenomena are discussed.     

Annealing induced refinement on optical transmission and electrical resistivity of indium tin oxide

The effect of annealing condition on sputtered indium tin oxide （ITO） films on quartz with the thickness of 200 nm is characterized to show enhanced optical transparency and optimized electrical contact resistivity. The as-deposited grown ITO film exhibits only 65% and 80% transmittance at 532 and 632.8 nm, respectively. After annealing at 475 ℃ for 15 min, the ITO film is refined to show improved transmittance at shorter wavelength region. The transmittances of 88.1% at 532 nm and 90.4% at 632.8 nm can be obtained. The 325-nm transmittance of the post-annealed ITO film is greatly increased from 12.7% to 41.9%. Optimized electrical property can be obtained when annealing below 450 ℃, leading to a minimum sheet resistance of 26 Ω/square. Such an ITO film with enhanced ultraviolet （UV） transmittance has become an alternative candidate for applications in current UV photonic devices. The morphology and conductance of the as-deposited and annealed ITO films are determined by using an atomic force microscopy （AFM）, showing a great change on the uniformity distribution with finite improvement on the surface conductance of the ITO film after annealing.     

Synthesis and characterization of Sr3Al2O6：Eu2＋, Dy3＋ phosphors prepared by sol-gel-combustion processing

A type of red luminescent Sr3Al2O6:Eu2+, Dy3+ phosphor powder is synthesised by sol-gel-combustion processing, with metal nitrates used as the source of metal ions and citric acid as a chelating agent of metal ions. By tracing the formation process of the sol-gel, it is found that it is necessary to reduce the amount of NO3- by dropping ethanol into the solution for forming a stable and homogeneous sol-gel. Thermogravimetric and Differential Scanning Calorimeter Analysis, x-ray diffractionmeter, scanning electron microscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy are used to investigate the luminescent properties of the as-synthesised Sr3Al2O6:Eu2+, Dy3+. The results reveal that the Sr3Al2O6 crystallises completely when the combustion ash is sintered at 1250 C. The excitation and the emission spectra indicate that the excitation broadband lies mainly in a visible range and the phosphors emit a strong light at 618 nm under the excitation of 472 nm. The afterglow of (Sr0.94Eu0.03Dy0.03)3Al2O6 phosphors sintered at 1250 ℃ lasts for over 1000 s when the excited source is cut off.     

Estimation of luminescence lifetime in frequency domain

Absorption is the origin of luminescence. But it must be noticed that the lifetime of luminescence might reversely influence the rate of absorption. In this paper, it is reported that the luminescence intensity of copper and manganese changes with the driving frequency at constant voltage.The variation of luminescent intensity depends only on the lifetime of luminescence but not on the type of quenching or other factors. Generally the rate of absorption is dominantly determined by the material property and the lifetime of luminescence centres, the absorption of shorter lifetime centre will be larger than that of the longer lifetime centre at the same excited condition.     

Modulation of electrical and optical properties of gallium-doped ZnO films by radio frequency magnetron sputtering

Ga-doped ZnO(GZO) films are prepared on amorphous glass substrates at room temperature by radio frequency magnetron sputtering.The results reveal that the gallium doping efficiency,which will have an important influence on the electrical and optical properties of the film,can be governed greatly by the deposition pressure and film thickness.The position shifts of the ZnO(002) peaks in X-ray diffraction(XRD) measurements and the varied Hall mobility and carrier concentration confirms this result.The low Hall mobility is attributed to the grain boundary barrier scattering.The estimated height of barrier decreases with the increase of carrier concentration,and the trapping state density is nearly constant.According to defect formation energies and relevant chemical reactions,the photoluminescence(PL) peaks at 2.46 eV and 3.07 eV are attributed to oxygen vacancies and zinc vacancies,respectively.The substitution of more Ga atoms for Zn vacancies with the increase in film thickness is also confirmed by the PL spectrum.The obvious blueshift of the optical bandgap with an increase of carrier concentration is explained well by the Burstein-Moss(BM) effect.The bandgap difference between 3.18 eV and 3.37 eV,about 0.2 eV,is attributed to the metal-semiconductor transition.