Synthesis and optical studies of gamma irradiated Eu doped nanocrystalline CaF2

Abstract Europium (Eu) doped Calcium fluoride (CaF 2 ) nanoparticles are synthesized by co-precipitation method and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Also, optical absorption and photoluminescence (PL) results on gamma irradiated Eu doped CaF 2 nanoparticles are presented. The PXRD patterns confirmed the cubic crystallinity of the samples and the particle size is found to be ∼25 nm. The purity of the synthesized nanoparticles is confirmed from FTIR spectrum. The morphological features studied using SEM revealed that nanoparticles are agglomerated and porous. Optical absorption spectrum shows that γ-rayed Eu doped CaF 2 nanoparticles exhibit absorption bands at ∼279, 360 and 434 nm. The PL studies showed emission at ∼420, 525 and 552 nm.