AVS 61st International Symposium & Exhibition
    Thin Film Tuesday Sessions
       Session TF+SE-TuM

Paper TF+SE-TuM13
Cathodoluminescent and Photoluminescent Properties of Sr2SiO4:Dy3+ Thin Films Prepared by the Sol-gel Spin Coating Technique

Tuesday, November 11, 2014, 12:00 pm, Room 305

Session: Energetic Thin Films/Optical Characterization
Presenter: Bakang Mothudi, University of South Africa, South Africa
Authors: M.A. Tshabalala, University of the Free State, South Africa
H.C. Swart, University of the Free State, South Africa
O.M. Ntwaeaborwa, University of the Free State, South Africa
B. Mothudi, University of South Africa, South Africa
Correspondent: Click to Email
Phosphor thin films have been attracting attention because they play important roles in high resolution devices such as cathode ray tubes, thin film electro-luminescent panels and field emission displays1. Displays based on thin film phosphors are characterized by high contrast and resolution, good thermal conductivity as well as high degree of uniformity and better adhesion to substrates2. Efforts have been made in the past years to develop various types of luminescent thin films via the sol–gel method by using either dip-coating or spin-coating3. However spin-coating has emerged as the preferred technique because it is more versatile than the dip-coating technique. Thin film phosphors based on oxide hosts have received considerable attention for use in flat-panel displays due to their outstanding luminescent properties, high chemical stability in high vacuum and lack of emission of corrosive gases under electron bombardment4. In this study we investigated the structure, particle morphology, surface topography, chemical composition and luminescent (photoluminescent (PL) and cathodoluminescent (CL)) properties of dysprosium (Dy3+) doped oxide based strontium silicate (Sr2SiO4) thin-film phosphor prepared by the sol-gel spin coating technique. Several parameters including number of sol drops, deposition times and post-deposition annealing temperatures were varied. Both the PL and CL intensities were dependent on the deposition conditions and post deposition annealing temperature. Data from scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope show that the major influence of the deposition conditions on the CL/PL intensity was through changes in the morphology and topography of the films, which affects light scattering and out-coupling. The chemical states and composition, and the depth profiles of the films were examined using the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy. The influence of the various deposition conditions on the luminescent intensities and the quality of the films will be discussed.