Highly textured zinc aluminate: Nd, Ce films over sapphire for NIR emitting applications

[EN] The development of sapphire-compatible optical sources is highly valued due to the potential cost-effective applications in sapphire-based integrated devices. In this work, a screen printing technique assisted by a molten salt flux was used to synthesize (hk0)-textured ZnAl2O4: Nd, Ce sub-micro...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Rojas-Hernández, Rocío E., Rubio Marcos, Fernando, Serrano Rubio, Aída, Román-Sánchez, Sara, Fernández Lozano, José Francisco, Hussainova, Irina
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/348529
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/348529
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Screen-printing
NIR luminescence
ZnAl2O4
Molten salt
Nd/ Ce pair
Sapphire
Descripción
Sumario:[EN] The development of sapphire-compatible optical sources is highly valued due to the potential cost-effective applications in sapphire-based integrated devices. In this work, a screen printing technique assisted by a molten salt flux was used to synthesize (hk0)-textured ZnAl2O4: Nd, Ce sub-micron films deposited over the sapphire substrate. The study is focused at controlling Ce concentration in the emitting layers, as well as determining the key parameters to be met for the development of ZnAl2O4-based films of high efficiency and remarkable optical properties. A degree of crystallinity of the ZnAl2O4-based films, and a precise adjustment of texture are the keys parameters for further improvement of NIR luminescence efficiency. Specifically, (hk0)- textured films were developed at sintering temperature of around 1300 ◦C, which contributed to a higher NIR emission intensity as compared to that of (hkl)-untextured films. Therefore, the design process carried out in this work promotes a feasible way to achieve a high NIR emission performance, demonstrating the validity of the approach for a wide range of applications.