The effects of sprayed lithium and erbium Co-doped ZnO thin films on the structural and cathodoluminescent properties

Abstract

Summary form only given. Lithium and Erbium co-doped Zinc oxide thin films have been successfully deposited on heated glass substrates using spray pyrolysis technique. This study is an investigation of the Li effect on the enhancement of Cathodoluminescent (CL) intensity on the Er-monodoped. Crystallinity, morphology and luminescence characteristics were investigated in detail, by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD); Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Cathodoluminescent (CL). The Li-Er co-doped ZnO films show higher intensity of blue and red emissions than the Er monodoped ZnO films. The behaviour of that enhancement is attributed to the modification of the local symmetry of the Er <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3+</sup> ion, which increases the intra 4f transition of Er <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3+</sup> ion. Li <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">+</sup> ions also can reduce the OH groups in specimen, which is the other reason for enhancing the visible intensities. The blue and red emissions have an important effect to improve the capacity of data storage.