Structural characterization and luminescence properties of nanostructured lanthanide-doped Sc2O3 prepared by propellant synthesis

Nanocrystalline powders of undoped and lanthanide-doped scandium oxide were prepared by propellant synthesis and characterized by x-ray powder diffraction, electron microscopy, EDX spectroscopy and luminescence spectroscopy. The obtained material has the Sc2O3 cubic structure (space group Ia3-bar) with unit cell parameter increasing with the size of the dopant. The crystallite size is in the range 20-40 nm. The lanthanide-doped samples form Sc2-xLnxO3 solid solutions with x∼0.2 (Ln = Eu or Er). No inhomogeneity was found by microanalysis on the micron scale. The emission spectrum of the Eu3+ doped Sc2O3 sample shows strong bands in the visible region assigned to 4f-4f transitions of the lanthanide ions