Abstract
Luminescent-magnetic bifunctional Mn2+-doped Zn2SiO4 (ZSMn2+) nanophosphor were synthesized by the sol-gel technique and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV–vis absorption, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photoluminescence (PL) and SQUID. The Mn2+-doped effects of zinc silicate (ZS) upon the emission intensity and decay time were investigated under 4.86eV excitation. Mn2+-doped ZS nanophosphor exhibits predominant visible emission under 4.86eV ultraviolet light excitation, and the trend of their color changes from green to yellow are simultaneously realized in single-phase. The ZS nanophosphors exhibit green and yellow luminescence, depending on their crystal structure, which can vary with the preparation conditions. The green peak at at 2.37eV is due to α– phase, while the yellow peak centered at 2.15eV is due to the β– phase. The two phases are diamagnetic at room temperature but become ferromagnetic at 5K. It was found that α-ZSMn2+ phase has a higher saturation than the β-ZSMn2+ phase. The correlation between the optical, structural and magnetic properties of nanophosphor is discussed in detail.