How Important is the Host (Semiconductor Nanoparticles) Identity and Absolute Band Gap in Host-Sensitized Dopant Photoluminescence?

Abstract

This work reports the host (semiconductor nanoparticles) sensitized dopant (lanthanides, Ln) photoluminescence in near band gap matched Sn(Ln)O 2 and Zn(Ln)S [Ln = Sm, Tb] nanoparticles to address the importance of the nanoparticle identity and absolute band gap in the underlying process. While the sensitization was evident in the Sn(Sm)O 2 and Zn(Tb)S nanoparticles, the same was not observed in the Sn(Tb)O 2 and Zn(Sm)S nanoparticles. This observation stresses the importance of nanoparticle identity as the determining factor in realizing the host-sensitized dopant photoluminescence and provides important insight into developing novel doped inorganic nanoparticle-based optical materials.