Oxygen defects-modulated green photoluminescence of Tb-doped ZrO 2 nanofibers

Abstract

The photoluminescence properties of Tb-doped ZrO2 nanofibers synthesized by electrospinning technique were investigated. The intensity of the green light emission could be controlled by oxygen vacancy concentration, which could be enhanced by argon gas annealing or diminished by oxygen annealing. An energy transfer mechanism is proposed that the oxygen vacancies in the host acted as effective sensitizers for the adjacent Tb ions. The oxygen vacancies transferred excitation energy to the adjacent Tb ions sites and thus greatly enhanced the green emission. These results are of great importance for the future optoelectronic applications of Tb-doped ZrO2 nanofibers. © 2010 American Institute of Physics.