Luminescence behavior of pulsed laser deposited Eu:Y2O3 thin film phosphors on sapphire substrates

Europium-doped yttrium oxide (Eu:Y2O3) luminescent thin films have been grown in situ on single crystal (0001) sapphire substrates using a pulsed laser deposition technique. The films grown under different deposition conditions have been characterized using microstructural and luminescent measurements. The photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) brightness data obtained from the Eu:Y2O3 films grown under optimized conditions have indicated that sapphire is a promising substrate for the growth of high quality Eu:Y2O3 thin film red phosphor. The success in the fabrication of Eu:Y2O3 films with high PL and CL brightness is attributed to favorable optical properties (low absorption of and low refractive index for red light) of the substrate material and improved growth of grains with unidirectional orientation on (0001) sapphire substrates. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(98)02847-2].