Structure and optical properties of pure and Eu3+ doped SrTiO3 by the polymeric precursor and hydrothermal method

Full text: SrTiO3 (ST) has a simple cubic perovskite structure and is a semiconductor with an indirect band gap usually ranging from 3.2 to 3.4 eV. By modifying ST structurally, this material can be made to show a variety of physical properties. In this work, we report the preparation and characterization of pure and europium(III)-doped SrTiO3 obtained via the polymeric precursor and hydrothermal method. Samples were prepared containing different quantities of Eu3⁺ ions in order to evaluate their effect on the structure property of the material. The analysis of X-ray diffraction results indicated that it was possible to obtain the SrTiO3 phase at 190 deg C free of secondary phases. We have also analyzed the powders by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and evaluated the bandgap of the compounds using the Kubelka-Munk approximation. (author)