EFFECT OF Li+ CO-DOPING ON THE LUMINESCENCE PROPERTIES OF ZnO: Tb3+ NANOPHOSPHORS

Li+ co-doped ZnO: Tb3+ nanocrystals were synthesized via the chemical co-precipitation method in order to study the effect of Li+ co-doping. The samples were characterized by means of SEM, XRD, FTIR, Reflectance, PL and TL studies. SEM images showed that the samples were composed of nanorods with diameters of 50 to 90 nm and lengths of approximately 600 nm to 1.3 mu m. XRD analysis revealed pure phase of ZnO with hexagonal wurtzite structure. XRD study also showed no change in the peak pattern for Li+ co-doping; a slight shift of the (101) peaks towards lower angle can be seen. Sample crystal sizes were found to be in the 10-25 nm range. Photoluminescence intensity was enhanced due to a minute amount of Li+ co-doping in the sample. The X-induced thermoluminescence gave a glow peak at 320 degrees C for the Li+ co-doped sample, which was shifted to a lower temperature and had twice the intensity of the ZnO: Tb3+ sample.