Influence of fluorination on structure and luminescence of ZrO2:Eu nanocrystals

Abstract The set of solid solutions ZrO2:0.005Eu3+/xF− (x = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.08, 0.10) was prepared via solid-state route. Synthesized powders were studied by means of XRD powder analysis, scanning electron microscopy and luminescence spectroscopy. The XRD patterns for all co-substituted samples are a composition of the monoclinic and cubic phases of zirconia. The products are crystallized in a compact form with an average size of particles about 50–150 nm. All studied samples at room temperature show in their PL spectra both wide band of the host-related emission (λmax ≈ 480 nm) and sharp peaks of the 5D0-7FJ (J = 0–4) radiation transitions in Eu3+ ions under excitation with λex = 393 nm. The total intensity of the Eu3+ luminescence increases more than 6 times with fluorine content, x, increasing up to 0.08. Possible mechanisms of the luminescence behavior are discussed.