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Effect of annealing temperature on the luminescence of Ce1−x PO4: Tb 3+ x nanocrystals: A novel theoretical model and experimental verification

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Abstract

Terbium-doped cerium phosphate nanocrystals are successfully synthesized through microwave-assisted sol–gel method and are annealed at different temperatures for detailed investigation on structural and optical properties. The structural characterization carried out using X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that all the samples are crystallized in monoclinic structure having chemical formula CePO4 and revealed the thermal stability of the synthesized samples. A novel theoretical model is proposed to investigate the influence of annealing temperature on Tb3+ by analyzing I4/I3—annealing temperature plot in which two regions are distinguished as above and below the crystallization temperature. A generalized equation derived in terms of rate constants for I4/I3 helps to frame four distinct cases describing the role of different radiative and nonradiative relaxations in the Tb3+ luminescence from 5D3 and 5D4 levels. The subsequent evaluation of each case described the role of defects, cross-relaxation and multiphonon relaxation in the variation of I4/I3 with annealing temperature and verified by the experimentally observed data with the help of TEM, FESEM, TGA and decay analysis.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to University Grants Commission, Govt. of India, and Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, for the financial assistance through SAP-DRS (No. F.530/12/DRS/2009 (SAP-1)) and DST-PURSE (SR/S9/Z-23/2010/22 (C,G)) programs, respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pure and Applied Physics, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, 686560, India

    S. Sisira, Dinu Alexander, Kukku Thomas, P. R. Biju, N. V. Unnikrishnan & Cyriac Joseph

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  2. Dinu Alexander
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Correspondence to Cyriac Joseph.

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Sisira, S., Alexander, D., Thomas, K. et al. Effect of annealing temperature on the luminescence of Ce1−x PO4: Tb 3+ x nanocrystals: A novel theoretical model and experimental verification. J Mater Sci 53, 1380–1394 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-1600-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-1600-x

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