Luminescence of pulsed laser deposited Eu doped yttrium oxide films

Abstract

Europium doped yttrium oxide (Eu:Y2O3) phosphor thin films were grown using a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique at varying growth conditions. The structural characterization carried out on a series of Eu:Y2O3 films grown on (100) silicon at substrate temperatures in the range of 250–600 °C and oxygen pressure in the range of 10−5 Torr to 200 mTorr indicated that films were preferentially (111) oriented. Measurements of photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence properties of laser deposited Eu:Y2O3 thin films and powder used for laser target showed that the best in situ grown films were ∼10%–22% as bright as Eu:Y2O3 powder. A postdeposition annealing treatment of Eu:Y2O3 films led to further improvements in their brightness (up to ∼70% with respect to Eu:Y2O3 powder), with cluster sizes of <400 nm.