Structural, morphological and optical study of bismuth and Zinc Co-doped yttrium oxide prepared by solvothermal and wet chemical method

Yttrium oxide (Y₂O₃) is the most familiar yttrium compound, which is popularly known as host for ion doping of other rare earth elements. Bismuth ion (Bi³⁺) is well known as an activator and sensitizer in several particular phosphors. Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanomaterial, having a wide band gap, is one of the promising candidates for general illumination applications due to its high optical transparency and color tenability bismuth (Bi) and zinc (Zn) co-doped Y₂O₃ samples are synthesized by simple precipitation techniques like solvothermal and wet chemical methods. The prepared samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive X-ray spectra, ultraviolet-visible absorbance spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectrophotometry. Ultraviolet-visible absorption studies showed absorption only around 340 nm whereas photoluminescence shows peaks around 500 nm, 680 nm, and 1020 nm for Bi and Zn co-doped Y₂O₃. The photoluminescence spectrum shows emission in blue region (500 nm) due to Zn dopant and red and near infrared region (680 and 1020 nm) due to Bi dopant. This is a new material which can effectively work as an efficient and cheap red phosphor.