Preparation and optical spectroscopy of Eu 3+-doped GaN luminescent semiconductor from freeze-dried precursors

• Published in: Journal of solid state chemistry Vol. 177; no. 11; pp. 4213 - 4220
• Main Authors: El-Himri, Abdelouahad, Pérez-Coll, Domingo, Núñez, Pedro, Martín, Inocencio R., Lavín, Victor, Rodríguez, Vicente D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 2004
• Subjects: Europium doped; Freeze-dried precursor; Gallium nitride; Luminescence; Europium doped; Luminescence; Gallium nitride; Freeze-dried precursor
• ISSN: 0022-4596; 1095-726X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jssc.2004.08.004

Pure and 0.5% and 5 mol% Eu 3+ doped GaN nanoparticles have been prepared by ammonolysis of the corresponding freeze-dried precursors. A single hexagonal phase with the wurtzite structure was obtained as determined by X-ray Powder Diffraction. The crystallite size determined by XRD was lower than 10 nm. From optical spectroscopy characterization, it is found that the Eu 2O 3 formation is avoided by using nitrates as starting reagent. Fluorescence line narrowing spectra show excitation wavelength dependence, which is indicative that the Eu 3+ ions are well dispersed in the prepared samples. The environment distribution occupied by the Eu 3+ ions has been analyzed by crystal-field calculation and the results are compared with those for other materials. An alternative synthesis method has been proposed to those expensive ones (i.e. MOMBE) for the preparation of GaN doped with Eu 3+ as a nanostructured material by the ammonolysis of the corresponding freeze-dried precursors. Pure and Eu 3+-doped GaN have been prepared by this method and they have been characterized by XRD, SEM and Optical Spectroscopy.