Photoluminescence properties of β-Ga2O3:Tb3+ nanofibers prepared by electrospinning

Highlights: → There are no reports on fabrication of Tb3+-doped β-Ga2O3 nanofibers by the electrospinning technique. → For β-Ga2O3:Tb3+ nanofibers, we observed several peaks corresponding to intra-4f transitions in Tb3+ ions and did not observe the blue band emission from Ga2O3 matrix. → The blue emission of β-Ga2O3 host has been quenched when a low concentration of Tb3+ (0.5 mol%) ions was introduced, indicating that the energy migrated from β-Ga2O3 host to Tb3+ ions. - Abstract: One-dimensional Tb3+-doped β-Ga2O3 nanofibers were prepared by a simple and cost-effective electrospinning process. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman technique, and photoluminescence (PL) were used to characterize the electrospun nanofibers. FE-SEM results indicated that the diameters all of the nanofibers ranged from 100 to 300 nm, and the lengths of nanofibers reached up to several millimeters. The XRD and Raman results showed that the Ga2O3 phase belongs to the monoclinic phase. Under ultraviolet excitation, the β-Ga2O3:Tb3+ samples showed green emission with the strongest peak at 550 nm, corresponding to 5D4 → 7F5 transition of Tb3+ ions. The luminescence intensity had been further studied as a function of the doping concentration of Tb3+ in the β-Ga2O3 samples.