Impact of Annealing on Structure, Morphology, Bandgap, Optical and Dielectric Behavior of Er3+ Doped SiO2 Nanopowder Useful for Photonic Devices

The prepared samples of Er3+ doped SiO2 nanopowder were gone through the annealing process at different temperature which are keenly characterized by various fundamental techniques. The pure cubic phase of Er2O3 nanocrystallite has been obtained after synthesis via sol-gel method. Crystal size similar to 13.88 nm with 0.34 m(2)/g specific surface area is found for most annealed sample. Absorption spectra have informed about the prominent absorption band at 300 and 365 nm while Tauc's plot has examined a small redshift in the bandgap energy of annealed sample owing to defects states. Photoluminescence peaks have appeared at 364, 378, 407, and 525 nm at 300 nm excitation wavelength (lambda(ex)) assigned to different characteristic transitions of Er3+ ions. It is examined that emission intensity is reduced significantly in the annealed sample due to the formation of nanocrystalline erbium oxide. Impedance study is presented here that basically stimulates by electron hopping process in Er3+ doped SiO2 samples. Current (I) - Voltage (V) performance is also highlighted to throw light on the conducive nature of the prepared samples. Such fascinating results signifies the usefulness of prepared nanopowder for optical communication and other photonic devices.

Automated summary

The prepared samples of Er3+ doped SiO2 nanopowder were annealed at different temperatures and characterized by various techniques. The results showed that the annealed samples had nanocrystalline erbium oxide, which is useful for optical communication and other photonic devices.