Photoluminescence decay kinetics of doped ZnS nanophosphors

Doped nanophosphor samples of ZnS:Mn, ZnS:Mn, Co and ZnS:Mn, Fe were prepared using a chemical precipitation method. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra were obtained and lifetime studies of the nanophosphors were carried out at room temperature. To the best of our knowledge, there are very few reports on the photoluminescence investigations of Co-doped or Fe-doped ZnS:Mn nanoparticles in the literature. Furthermore, there is no report on luminescence lifetime shortening of ZnS:Mn nanoparticles doped with Co or Fe impurity. Experimental results showed that there is considerable change in the photoluminescence spectra of ZnS:Mn nanoparticles doped with X (X = Co, Fe). The PL spectra of the ZnS:Mn, Co nanoparticle sample show three peaks at 410, 432 and 594 nm, while in the case of the ZnS:Mn, Fe nanoparticle sample the peaks are considerably different. The lifetimes are found to be in microsecond time domain for 594 nm emission, while nanosecond order lifetimes are obtained for 432 and 411 nm emission in ZnS:Mn, X nanophosphor samples. These lifetimes suggest a new additional decay channel of the carrier in the host material.