Luminescence enhancement of Eu-doped amorphous barium titanate films with crystalline BaTiO3 nanoparticle incorporation

Crystalline barium titanate (BT) nanoparticles were incorporated into Eu-doped amorphous BT films to examine the influence of local permittivity around Eu ions on their luminescent properties in the BT films. The BT nanoparticles were synthesized by hydrolysis of a BT complex alkoxide in 2-methoxyethanol/ethanol cosolvent, and then incorporated into the Eu-doped films at Eu/(Eu + BT) ratio of 10 mol%. The emission intensities of Eu3+ in the film were linearly raised with volume of the nanoparticles incorporated, while dielectric constant of the film also increased with the nanoparticle volume. This indicates that the incorporation of crystalline nanoparticles is effective to enhance the luminescence of Eu ions in the amorphous film. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.