Enhancement of cathodoluminescent and photoluminescent properties of Eu:Y2O3 luminescent films by vacuum cooling

This letter investigates the role of postdeposition oxygen treatments upon their luminescent properties by synthesizing Eu:Y2O3 films by pulsed laser deposition under different conditions and subjecting them to various postdeposition oxygen treatments. Our results have shown that Eu:Y2O3 films grown in 300 mTorr oxygen ambient and cooled in vacuum (10(-6) Torr) after the termination of growth exhibit better photoluminescent and cathodoluminescent brightness than those grown in (i) vacuum and cooled in vacuum and (ii) 300 mTorr oxygen and cooled in 2 Torr oxygen. Two possible mechanisms have been proposed to explain these results. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003- 6951(00)03942-5].