Photoluminescence and X-Ray Diffraction Properties of Europium and Silver Co-Doped Tantalum-Oxide Thin Films Deposited by Co-Sputtering

Abstract

We fabricated europium and silver co-doped tantalum-oxide (Ta 2 O 5 :Eu, Ag) thin films using a simple co-sputtering method for the first time, and we eva-luated their photoluminescence (PL) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) properties. We found that the most remarkable PL peak at a wavelength of 615 nm due to Eu 3+ can be enhanced by Ag doping, and the strongest PL peak can be ob-tained from a Ta 2 O 5 :Eu, Ag thin film after annealing at 1000˚C. Based on XRD measurements, we found that Ag 2 Ta 8 O 21 crystalline phases produced by Ag doping are very important and Eu 3 TaO 7 phases should be avoided in order to enhance the objective PL peak from our Ta 2 O 5 :Eu, Ag thin films.