Optical, Structural and Photoluminescence Properties of Gd _x SrO: CdO Nanostructures Synthesized by Co Precipitation...

To investigate the effect of Gd _x SrO: CdO (x = 0.1, 0.3, 0.4) nanostructures (NS), in the present work an attempt has been made to synthesize Gd_x SrO:CdO NS by co precipitation method. Structural properties were investigated by XRD (X-ray diffraction), FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), SEM (scanning electron microscopy), UV-Visible, XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy). XRD indicates having mixed phase of tetragonal crystal structure and SEM images indicate spherical shaped nanoparticles (NPs) of Gd _x SrO:CdO with average size laying in between ~100 nm to ~130 nm. FTIR spectra of Gd _x SrO: CdO NS show stretching and bending peaks of Gd-O-Gd, Cd-O-Cd and Sr-OH at ~1311 cm ^-1, ~1486 cm ^-1, ~ 3300 cm ^-1 and UV-visible optical absorptivity of Gd _x SrO:CdO show absorption maxima shift from 330 nm to 324 nm (blue shift) and edges at 352.4 nm, 348 nm and 346.3 nm respectively for Gd concentration varying between 0.1, 0.3 and 0.4. binding energies of the Gd 3d _3/2, Sr 3d _3/2 and Cd 3d _3/2, O1s and C1s observed at 150.8 eV, 141.6 eV, 410.1 eV, 529.6 eV and 282.4 eV respectively which confirms the chemical composition of NS. Photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of Gd _0.4 Sr _0.5 O Cd _0.1O NS exhibit broad peaks from 338 nm to 397 nm centred around 369 nm with various Gd, O, Sr and Cd related native defects. Emission band observed at UV- Visible region for Gd _0.3 Sr _0.5 O Cd _0.2 O NS PL emission spectra has two emission peaks at 369 nm (UV region) and 550 nm (Visible region). The transitions can be ascertained with shielding of 4f shells of Gd⁺³ ions by 6 s, 5d shells by the interaction of the other Gd⁺³ ions.