Abstract
Terbium (Tb
3+) and europium (Eu
3+)-doped tin oxide (SnO
2) was prepared using the sol–gel method in order to form SnO
2:Tb
3+ and SnO
2:Eu
3+ nanocomposites on monocrystalline Si wafers and porous Si (PS) substrates. The energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis shows the presence of Tb inside the SnO
2 layer. The high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) observations revealed the presence of small crystallites of SnO
2 where the average size ranges from 3 to 10
nm. The mechanism of rare earth excitation and emission is discussed through the absorption of SnO
2 and the effect of excitation energy.
SnO
2:Tb
3++Eu
3+/Si nanocomposites are formed using the same method by doping the gel with Tb
3+ and Eu
3+ ions. The mechanism of emission is discussed and we show that a process of excitation transfer is performed between rare earth ions.