Luminescence properties of nanocrystalline CdS and CdS:Mn2+ doped silica-type glasses

In the present work, we report our results for the sol-gel preparation and optical properties of CdS nanometer sized particles and Mn 2+ -doped CdS particles in silica-type glass matrices. Gels containing 4.5 wt.% CdO in 95.5SiO 2 and 4.5Na 2 O-18B 2 O 3 -73.5SiO 2 matrices were prepared through a hydrolysis of tetraethoxysilane, cadmium acetate and, in the sodium borosilicate composition, boron ethoxide and sodium acetate. We designed several heat treatments in H 2 S to convert CdO to CdS in the gels. The influence of the heat treatment conditions on the optical properties of the nanoparticle semiconductor materials was studied using transmission electron microscopy, absorption, and temperature-dependent photoluminescence. A model of the photoluminescence processes was proposed to explain the observed emission bands.