The photoluminescence of SrS:Cu nanophosphor

Strontium sulfide doped with copper has been regarded as one of the most promising inorganic materials for the blue-green color phosphor. A wet chemical precipitation method with post-annealing is presented for the synthesis of copper-doped SrS nanoparticles. XRD studies revealed the phase purity of SrS particles with rocksalt structure. TEM images showed the formation of nanoparticles with an average size of 7 nm. Green photoluminescence emission (PL) at 535 nm was observed for an excitation wavelength of 356 nm, the intensity of which was greater than that of coarser phosphor particles synthesized by solid state reaction. Low temperature PL showed a redshift with decreasing temperature which is due to aggregated copper centers. Luminescent decay at room temperature was found to be faster than the reported values of the corresponding transition in thin film samples. A blueshift in the absorption edge was observed for the nanophosphor with respect to the bulk due to reduction in particle size.