Crystalline and photoluminescence characteristics of YVO4:Sm3+ thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition under oxygen pressure

YVO4:Sm3+ films were deposited on Al2O3 (0 0 0 1) substrates at various oxygen pressures changing from 13.3 to 46.6 Pa by using the pulsed laser deposition method. The crystallinity and surface morphology of these films were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. The XRD pattern confirmed that YVO4:Sm3+ film has zircon structure and the AFM study revealed that the films consist of homogeneous grains ranging from 100 to 400 nm. The room temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra showed that the emitted radiation was dominated by a reddish-orange emission peak at 602 nm radiating from the transition of (4G5/2→6H7/2). The crystallinity, surface morphology, and photoluminescence spectra of thin-film phosphors were highly dependent on the deposition conditions, in particular, the substrate temperature. The surface roughness and photoluminescence intensity of these films showed similar behavior as a function of oxygen pressure.