Synthesis and Characterization of Rare Earth Doped ZrO2 Nanophosphors

In this paper, we reports synthesis, characterization and thermoluminescence (TL) glow curves of europium and dysprosium activated zirconium dioxide (ZrO2: Eu3+, Dy3+) phosphor with variable concentration of europium and fixed concentration of dysprosium. The sample was prepared by the Solid state method; thereafter, the TL glow curves were recorded for different concentration of europium with 20 min UV exposure at a heating rate of 6.7 degrees C/s. The trapping parameters for synthesized phosphors of ZrO2: Eu3+, Dy3+ have been calculated by using a peak shape method. The sample was characterized for structural analysis by XRD (X-ray diffraction) and morphological analysis by FEGSEM (field emission gun scanning electron microscope) and FTIR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy). The effect of variable europium concentration and fixed dysprosium concentration on TL studies were interpreted and the formation of trap depth and reproducibility of prepared phosphor were analyzed by TL glow curves. The peak temperature on TL less than 200 degrees C shows the formation of deep trapping in prepared sample. The high temperature peak shows the less fading and more stability in prepared sample.