Luminescence Properties of Sm³⁺/Eu³⁺ Co-Doped ZnO Quantum Dots

Abstract

In order to improve luminescence properties of semiconductor ZnO quantum dots (QDs), Sm3+/Eu3+ co-doped ZnO QDs have been controllably synthesized by sol-gel method in this paper. ZnO QDs have a spherical shape with mean diameter at about 5-6 nm, which was characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). ZnO QDs have hexagonal wurtzite structure with parts of Sm3+ and Eu3+ incorporated into the lattice, which was demonstrated by X-ray Diffraction (XRD). Luminescence properties at room temperature (RT) of different amount of Sm3+ and 2 mol% Eu3+ doped ZnO QDs were examined in-depth by optical spectra. In contrast to the Pr3+/Eu3+ co-doped fluorescent performance researched in our previous study, the photoluminescence (PL) spectra indicates the unique luminescence properties of Sm3+/Eu3+ co-doped ZnO QDs. In addition, fluorescence lifetimes were obtained to illustrate the luminous mechanism.