Rare earth ions doped alkaline metal zirconium phosphors have recently received significant attention in several applications including light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based solid-state lighting, solar panels, barcode readers and fluorescent labels focusing on the ultraviolet (UV) to visible (Vis) spectrum photoluminescence (PL) properties. Near-infrared (NIR) PL properties of rare earth ions doped magnesium zirconium phosphate (MZP) nanophosphors characteristics have not been investigated and considered as good candidates for optical amplifier and photonics applications. In this study, erbium doped magnesium zirconium phosphate (Er3+doped MgZr4(PO4)6) nanophosphors containing 0.0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0 mol% Er3+ were synthesised using a sol–gel technique. The samples prepared were calcined at 900 °C. Nanopowders of the samples were examined by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy to determine the surface morphology, particle size, crystallographic phase, crystalline structure, and lattice strain. Increasing in the Er3+-ion concentrations do not have significant influence on the crystallite size, with an average crystallite size range from ∼ 28 nm to 32 nm. However, the lattice strain parameter of the Er3+ doped MZP samples decreased slightly as compared to the pure undoped MgZr4(PO4)6. The Er3+dopant was found to influence the photoluminescence properties measured at room temperature under a 980 nm excitation source. Systematic analysis revealed the presence of broad emission band corresponding to the 4I13/2 → 4I15/2 transition. The results showed that 0.5 mol% Er3+doped sample exhibits a full width half maximum (FWHM) value of 38 nm with a long photoluminescence lifetime of 5.47 ms. The results obtained clearly demonstrates that 0.5 mol% Er3+ doped MgZr4(PO4)6 nanophosphors has a huge potential for integrated photonic applications such as lighting, biosensing, compact waveguide amplifiers, and lasers with emission properties in the IR region.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)