Ultrasound assisted sonochemical synthesis of samarium doped Y2O3 nanostructures for display applications

Sm³⁺ doped (1-11 mol %) cubic Y₂O₃ nanoflowers were fabricated by simple low temperature Sonochemical method using Aloe Vera gel as fuel. The product was characterized by PXRD, SEM, TEM, DRS, PL etc. The powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) profiles of nanophosphors showed cubic phase structure. The particle size was further confirmed by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and it was found to be in the range of 17-25 nm. The PL emission results reveal that the phosphor nanoparticles (NPs) emit an intensive yellowish light under 367 nm excitation. The excitation spectrum of Y₂O₃: Sm³⁺ (5 mol %) obtained by monitoring the emission of the 4f - 4f (⁴G_5/2→⁶H_7/2) transition of Sm³⁺ at 612 nm As can be seen that the excitation spectrum consists of strong band at 332 nm and a broad band centered at 367 nm which corresponds to host absorption, confirming the effective energy transfer from Y₂O₃ host to Sm³⁺ ions. In the present study, CIE and CCT were estimated and found to be (0.45688, 0.51727) and the CCT of Y₂O₃: Sm³⁺ at 367 nm excitation was found to be 3357 K which was within the range of vertical daylight. Thus it can be useful for artificial production of illumination devices.