Optical studies on Eu3+/ZnSe nanocrystal in silica hosts

Abstract The wide band gap semiconductor zinc selenide nanocrystallites together with europium ions were incorporated into the silica matrix using sol–gel method. The size distribution and optical band gap of the nanoparticles were calculated from the absorption spectrum. The TEM measurements yield the nanocrystal size to be around 6 nm and a crystal inter planar spacing to be 3.278 A. The excitation spectra recorded for the sample gives a broad excitonic band around 370 nm which could be assigned to the ZnSe nanocrystallites. The fluorescence spectra reveal that the intensity of characteristic emission of europium increases considerably in the presence of ZnSe particles.