SiO₂:P,Dy nano-thin film phosphor: Synthesis, structure and luminescence properties

A nano-sized thin film layer of phosphorus-dysprosium doped silicon oxide (SiO₂:P,Dy) was successfully synthesized using the sol-gel method combined with spin coating technique. The surface morphology, structure, and luminescence properties of the synthesized thin film were characterized using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared-Attenuated Total Reflectance (FTIR-ATR), and Photoluminescence (PL). The average surface roughness was measured as 22.04 nm. The optical band gaps, E_g, of the samples were estimated using the Tauc model. A relatively good tensile strength between layers of the thin film of 10-SiO₂:P,Dy at 450 °C was observed. The characteristic main emission lines of Dy³⁺ for the 10 and 15 times coated samples were measured at 2.16 eV and 1.98 eV originated from the ⁴F_9/2 → ⁶H_13/2 and ⁴F_9/2 → ⁶H_11/2 transitions, respectively. The thermoluminescence of 10- SiO₂:P,Dy thin films annealed at 1000 °C exhibits generally broad TL glow curves peaking at 260 °C.