Study the effect of Zn${}^{2+}$ co-doping on the structural and optical properties of CdSiO${}_3$:Eu${}^{3+}$ phosphor

The current investigation is aimed to provide a possible route to enhance the photoluminescence (PL) property of phosphors. In the present work, comprehensive studies were done on the structural and PL characteristics of CdSiO${}_3$:Eu${}^{3+}$ nanophosphors co-doped with Zn${}^{2+}$. Oxalyldihydrazide (ODH) was used as a fuel to synthesize the the phosphors by employing solution combustion method. The structural studies using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique confirmed that the phosphors were formed in monoclinc phase. The Debye-Sherrer's equation was used to estimate the average crystallite sizes of Cd${}_{0.95-x}$Eu${}_{0.05}$Zn${}_x$SiO${}_3$ phosphors and were found to be in the range of 30-40 nm. The microstructure analysis of the samples showed porosity, which, increased with Zn${}^{2+}$ ion concentration.The optical properties of the samples were investigated using UV-Visible and photoluminescence studies. The optical energy band gap of CdSiO${}_3$:Eu${}^{3+}$ phosphor varies from 4.5 and 4.95 eV upon co-doping with Zn${}^{2+}$ ion. The PL studies confirm that the 5 mol% Zn${}^{2+}$ co-doped CdSiO${}_3$:Eu${}^{3+}$ phosphors the intensity of the dominant peak (611 nm, ${}^5$D${}_0$ → ${}^7$F${}_2$) was enhanced by a factor of 2 (ie. 200%) in comparison with CdSiO${}_3$:Eu${}^{3+}$ phosphor.