Photoluminescence and Structural Analysis of Samarium Doped TiO 2 Thin Films and Their Applications to Visible LEDs

Abstract

Samarium-doped anatase TiO2 (A-TiO2:Sm) and rutile (R-TiO2:Sm) single phase thin films are fabricated by laser ablation and post-annealing at different temperatures. A-TiO2:Sm samples exhibit intense PL emission, whilst R-TiO2:Sm samples exhibit weak PL emission. The local crystal structure of Sm-dopants is investigated using X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) measurements. The thin films showing strong PL emission have lower crystal symmetry than the other samples, which show weak PL emission. We report the relationship between changing the symmetry of the local structure and activation of the luminescent center. The local structure of Sm3+ thin films annealed at 600˚C to 800˚C, which possess an activated semi-stable Sm3+ ions luminescent center, dramatically changes from having high symmetry to low symmetry. While the phase transitioned R-TiO2:Sm and fabricated as R-TiO2:Sm samples showed highly symmetric...