Luminescence studies on undoped and lanthanide doped Zinc Tin Hydroxide

Abstract Undoped and rare earth ions (Eu 3+ and Dy 3+ ) doped ZnSn(OH) 6 particles were prepared at room temperature in aqueous medium. XRD studies confirmed that unit cell parameters increases with increase in concentration of lanthanide ions in the sample, suggesting its incorporation in the lattice. The particles are having cube like shape with size in the range of 200 nm, as revealed by TEM measurements. Luminescence studies confirm that host emission from the samples arises due to self-trapped exciton recombination with an activation energy for thermal quenching ~ 16.7 meV. Further it is inferred from the studies that lanthanide ions get incorporated up to 2% in the lattice. Energy transfer from host matrix to lanthanide ions has been observed in these samples.