Nanostructured Lanthanide-Doped Lu2O3 Obtained by Propellant Synthesis

Lu1.98Ln0.02O3 (Ln = Nd, Eu, and Er) powders obtained by propellant synthesis were characterized using XRD, SAXS, TEM, and SEM. Samples have a very porous, open morphology with fractal scaling properties. The building blocks of the fractal aggregates are 60-90 nm lanthanide-doped cubic Lu2O3 crystalline particles, which exhibit changes in the lattice parameter proportional to the lanthanide ionic radius. The NIR luminescence spectrum of nanocrystalline Lu2O3:Nd^3+ was measured and emission was observed from the 4F3/2 excited state to the 4IJ (9/2, 11/2, 13/2, 15/2) state. The spectral features are very similar to those of a bulk material of identical composition prepared for comparison, though with a noticeable difference in the relative intensity of the 4F3/2 (right arrow)4I9/2 and 4F3/2 (right arrow)4I11/2 transitions. The spectroscopic-quality parameter (X) for nanocrystalline samples was calculated and was found to be higher than for the bulk.