PL and EL properties of Tm-activated vanadium oxide-based phosphor thin films

Abstract

The preparation of high-luminance blue emitting Tm-activated multicomponent oxide phosphor thin films is described. The phosphor thin films were deposited on thick BaTiO 3 ceramic sheets by r.f. magnetron sputtering using powder targets. A very high photoluminescence (PL) intensity in blue emission could be observed in postannealed Tm-activated gadolinium oxide–vanadium oxide Gd 0.5–V 0.5–O:Tm thin films prepared using Tm 2O 3-doped (Gd 2O 3) 0.5–(V 2O 5) 0.5 targets (V 2O 5 content of 50 mol.%). It should be noted that thin films of this phosphor postannealed at 1100 °C in air exhibited higher PL intensity than those from commercially available blue BaMgAl 14O 23:Eu (BAM) phosphor powder and Gd 0.5–V 0.5–O:Tm powders. In addition, a Gd 0.5–V 0.5–O:Tm thin-film electroluminescent device exhibited a blue emission that was the same as the PL emission.