Influence of annealing on luminescence and energy transfer in ZnO multilayer structure co-doped with Tb and Eu

Abstract

The influence of rapid thermal annealing (RTA) on structural and optical properties of ZnO multilayer structures co-doped with Tb and Eu ions has been investigated by X-ray diffraction, Time-of-Fligth Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, Specular Infrared reflection, micro-Raman and photoluminescence (PL) methods. It is shown that incorporation of rare earth (RE) ions in ZnO host is accompanied by the formation of intrinsic defects in oxygen and zinc sub-lattices of ZnO. The appearance of intense Raman mode at 275 cm−1 is ascribed mainly to Eu ion incorporation on Zn site in ZnO matrix. The PL of RE ions localized in ZnO and other crystal phases is revealed. The effect of energy transfer from Tb3+ to Eu3+ ions in ZnO is identified. It is shown that the RTA improves crystal structure of ZnO host, i.e. stimulates the increase of coherent domain sizes and strain relaxation, as well as promotes the redistribution of RE ions across the structure. The effect of RTA on RE ion PL depends strongly on the annealing temperature. It is found that RTA at 500 °C promotes Eu incorporation into ZnO and the enhancement of Eu3+ PL due to energy transfer from Tb3+ to Eu3+, while RTA at 800 °C stimulates segregation of RE ions and the decrease of their PL.