Properties of 80-MeV oxygen ion irradiated ZnS:Mn nanoparticles and exploitation in nanophotonics

ZnS:Mn nanoparticles of size variation 11-17 nm were synthesized by a simple and inexpensive chemical method and confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Presuming electronic energy loss (S-e > S-n, S-n being nuclear energy loss) to be the dominant phenomenon, they were irradiated by 80-MeV energetic oxygen ions with fluence of 10(11) to 10(13) ions/cm(2). Photoluminescence (PL) spectra revealed three major emission bands similar to 445 nm, similar to 582 nm and similar to 706 nm; which are ascribed to D-A pair transition, Mn emission and surface state led fluorescence activation. The recovery of Mn emission and tunable surface state emission have been observed with ion fluence variation. Infra-red (IR) spectra of irradiated samples show great extent of oscillation with respect to amplitude due to ion fluence variation however, phonon energy (similar to 98 MeV) remains unchanged. The possible applications of these modified properties in nanophotonics are also highlighted.