Synthesis and optical properties of Eu3+ doped ZnO nanoparticles used for white light emitting diodes

ZnO nanoparticles doped with trivalent europium ions (Eu3+) were synthesized by the hydrothermal method. The structural properties of the samples were investigated by the X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results indicated that Eu3+ was incorporated into the lattice of ZnO. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements of ZnO:Eu3+ showed a strong red luminescence emission. Specially, the red emission can be obtained even under the nonresonant excitation of 320 nm, and it is explained by an energy transfer mechanism in which the energy is transferred from ZnO matrix to Eu3+. These results indicate that the ZnO:Eu3+ is the attractive candidate phosphor for the application in phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes (pc-LEDs) as red phosphor. The intensity of Eu3+ PL decreased with the increasing Eu3+ concentration and the concentration quenching mechanism was presented based on non-radiative recombination processes in ZnO and the energy back-transfer from the excited state of Eu3+ to the ZnO host. Moreover, the samples were synthesized under low temperature condition.