Sol–gel preparation and photoluminescence property of YBO3:Eu3+/Tb3+ nanocrystalline thin films

YBO3:Eu3+/Tb3+ nanocrystalline thin films were successfully deposited onto quartz glass substrates by Pechini sol–gel dip-coating method, using rare-earth nitrates and boric acid as starting materials. The crystal structure, morphology, chemical composition and photoluminescence property of the films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and fluorescence spectrophotometer. The results of XRD, AFM, XPS and FTIR revealed that the films were composed of spherical YBO3:Eu3+/Tb3+ nanocrystals with average grain size of 80 nm. The YBO3:Eu3+ film exhibited strong orange emission at 595 nm and red emission at 615 nm, which were, respectively ascribed to the (5D0→7F1) and (5D0→7F2) transitions of Eu3+. The YBO3:Tb3+ film showed dominant green emission at 545 nm due to the 5D4–7F5 transition of Tb3+.