Abstract
In this study, we report on the structural, magnetic, and optical properties of Tb3+-doped CeF3 nanocrystals prepared via a polyol-assisted route, followed by calcination. X-ray diffraction analysis and electron microscopy investigations have shown the formation of a dominant Ce0.75F3 nanocrystalline phase (of about 99%), with a relatively uniform distribution of nanocrystals about 15 nm in size. Magnetization curves showed typical paramagnetic properties related to the presence of Ce3+ and Tb3+ ions. The magnetic susceptibility showed a weak inflexion at about 150 K, assigned to the cerium ions’ crystal field splitting. Under UV light excitation of the Ce3+ ions, we observed Tb3+ green luminescence with a quantum yield of about 20%.
Highlights
Rare-earth-doped nanofluorides are of great interest due to their high potential for application in various fields, e.g., lighting and displays, optical amplifiers, lasers, up-converters, and scintillators ([1,2,3]and references therein)
For the preparation of Tb (8 mol%)-doped CeF3 nanocrystalline powders, we used the chemical precipitation technique at room temperature mediated by the ethylene glycol solvent, similar to [18]
For stoichiometric NH4 F amount generally used, we obtained spherical nanoparticles about 15 nm in size (Figure 2) with Ce3+ ion deficiency as resulting from the energy dispersive X-ray system (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses (Table 1 and Figure 3), this aspect having been overlooked by previous studies
Summary
Rare-earth-doped nanofluorides are of great interest due to their high potential for application in various fields, e.g., lighting and displays, optical amplifiers, lasers, up-converters, and scintillators CeF3 is one of the most versatile due to its wide range of bulk properties, such as high thermal and chemical stability, high density and resistance to radiation, fast response time, low vibrational energies, etc., and chemical flexibility of the structure allowing high solubility of rare-earth dopant ions Another major advantage of this compound is related to the large spectrum of possible preparation methods, allowing for its processing in various sizes and morphologies, down to the nanometer scale. The synthesis route may influence nanocrystals’ structure through synthesis-induced defects, but to date, there has been little focus on the structural refinement analysis, and the mixed valency behavior of the cerium ions has been overlooked [17] These aspects are crucial to understanding the interaction mechanisms relevant for both optical and magnetic properties, and their improvement for possible applications. Magnetic and optical properties (e.g., photoluminescence, quantum yield) have been presented and discussed
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