Author(s)

Kenta Miura^*, Yuki Arai, Osamu Hanaizumi

Graduate School of Science and Technology, Gunma University, Kiryu, Japan.

In this paper, we report on the first observation of blue-light emission bands from europium-doped tantalum pentoxide (Ta₂O₅:Eu) thin films prepared using a simple co-sputtering method. We prepared four specimens from one as-deposited sample, and we subsequently annealed them at 700°C, 800°C, 900°C, or 1000°C for 20 min. Four remarkable photoluminescence (PL) peaks at wavelengths of 600, 620, 650, and 700 nm due to the ⁵D₀→⁷F₁, ⁵D₀→⁷F₂, ⁵D₀→⁷F₃, and ⁵D₀→⁷F₄ transitions of Eu³⁺ were observed from all the specimens, and blue PL peaks around a wavelength of 450 nm were also observed from the specimens annealed at 800°C, 900°C, and 1000°C. The blue PL peaks seem to be originated from the 4f⁶5d¹→4f⁷ transition of Eu²⁺. Both Eu³⁺ and Eu²⁺ ions seem to exist in our Ta₂O₅:Eu co-sputtered thin films annealed at temperatures from 800°C to 1000°C. Such Ta₂O₅:Eu co-sputtered thin films seem to be used as multi-functional coating films having both anti-reflection and down-conversion effects for realizing high-efficiency silicon solar cells.

Ta₂O₅ , Eu, Co-Sputtering, Blue-Light Emission Band

Miura, K. , Arai, Y. and Hanaizumi, O. (2015) Observation of Blue-Light Emission Band from Eu-Doped Ta₂O₅ Thin Films Prepared Using Co-Sputtering. Materials Sciences and Applications, 6, 676-680. doi: 10.4236/msa.2015.67069.