Excitation-induced tunable luminescence of luminomagnetic Dy and Ce co-doped ZnO nanoparticles

Abstract

Here, 1 mol% Dy,Ce co-doped ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized via a simple, cost-effective combustion method which could produce large-scale products. The structure and phase purity of synthesized nanoparticles were shown by X-ray diffraction, selected-area-electron-diffraction patterns and Raman spectroscopy to be a hexagonal wurtzite structure with no secondary peaks. Spherical morphology was shown by field emission scanning electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The presence of dopants with elemental composition was authenticated by energy dispersive spectroscopy and elemental mapping. Enhanced reflectance in the visible region for Ce-doped ZnO samples was noted by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. An increase in the bandgap for doped samples was indicated by the Kubelka–Munk function. Significant visible luminescence was observed, which varied with different excitations. The room-temperature weak ferromagnetic behaviour of 2 mol% Ce-doped ZnO and distinct paramagnetic behaviour of 1 mol% Dy,Ce co-doped ZnO was detected using vibrating sample magnetometry.