Photoluminescence of Cu-doped and Cu-doped ZnS nanocrystallites

ZnS:Cu⁺ and ZnS:Cu²⁺ nanocrystallites have been obtained by chemical precipitation from homogeneous solutions of zinc, copper salt compounds, with S²⁻ as precipitating anion formed by decomposition of thioacetamide. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows that average diameter of particles is about 2.0-2.5 nm. The nanoparticles can be doped with copper during synthesis without altering XRD pattern. However, the emission spectrum of ZnS nanocrystallites doped with Cu⁺ and Cu²⁺ consists of two emission peaks. One is at 450 nm and the other is at 530 nm. The absorptive spectrum of the doped sample is different from that of un-doped ZnS nanoparticles. Because the emission process of the Cu⁺ luminescence center in ZnS nanocrystallites is remarkably different from that of the Cu²⁺ luminescence center, the emission spectra of Cu⁺-doped samples are different from those of Cu²⁺-doped samples.