ZnO thin films were deposited on fused silica via pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at substrate temperatures from 300°C to 800°C and ambient oxygen pressures ranging from 10-2 mTorr to 240 mTorr. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectra indicated that wurtzite ZnO was obtained in all cases. The highly c-oriented ZnO films were obtained for oxygen pressures above 11 mTorr. The room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra demonstrated that all the films exhibited strong near-band-edge (NBE) emission, while deep-level (DL) emission was also observed in films deposited at oxygen pressures below 80 mTorr. From analysis of the XRD, Raman and photoluminescence PL data, an optimal condition was identified for the deposition of highly crystallized ZnO films.
ZHAO Lei, XU ChangShan, LIU YuXue & LIU YiChun Center for Advanced Opto-Electronic Functional Materials Research, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China
Er-doped 12Ca0.7Al2O3 （C12A7：Er） powders were prepared using the sol-gel method followed by annealing inorganic precursors. X-ray diffraction （XRD）, Raman and absorption spectra revealed that Er ions existed and substituted Ca^2＋ lattice site in C12A7. The photoluminescence of C12A7：Er at room temperature was observed in the visible and infrared region using 488 nm （2.54 eV） Ar^＋ line as excitation source, respectively. The sharp and intense green emission bands with multi-peaks around 520 nm and 550 nm correspond to the transitions from the excited states ^2H11/2 and ^4S3/2 tO the ground state ^4I15/2, respectively. Furthermore, red emission band around 650 nm was also observed. It was attributed to the electronic transition from excited states ^4F9/2 to the ground state ^4I15/2 inside 4f-shell of Er^3＋ ions. The intensive infrared emission at 1.54 μm was attributed to the transition from the fast excited states of ^4I13/2 to the ground state （^4I15/2）. The temperature dependent photoluminescence of infrared emission showed that the integrated intensity reached a maximum value at near room temperature. The forbidden transitions of intra-4f shell electrons in free Er^3＋ ions were allowed in C12A7 owing to lack of the inversion symmetry in the Er^3＋ position in C12A7 crystal field. Our results suggested that C12A7：Er was a candidate for applications in Er-doped laser materials, and full color display.
