Ion beam induced amorphization and bond breaking in Zn2SiO4:Eu3+ nanocrystalline phosphor

This paper reports on the ionoluminescence (IL) of Zn(2)SiO(4):Eu(3+) nanophosphors bombarded with 100 MeV Si(7+) ions with fluences in the range (3.91-21.48)×10(12) ions cm(-2). The prominent IL emission peaks recorded at 580, 590, 612, 650 and 705 nm are attributed to the luminescence centers activated by Eu(3+) ions. It is observed that IL intensity decreases and saturates with increase of Si(7+) ion fluence. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) studies confirm surface/bulk amorphization for a fluence of (3.91-21.48)×10(13) ions cm(-2). These results show degradation of SiO (2ν(3)) bonds present on the surface of the sample and/or due to lattice disorder produced by dense electronic excitation under heavy ion irradiation. These results are discussed in detail.