Luminescence studies of 100 MeV Si⁸⁺ ion irradiated nanocrystalline Y₂O₃

Combustion synthesized Y₂O₃ revealed cubic structure and the average crystallite size is found to be 32.73 nm. FTIR spectra revealed Y–O, OH stretching and C–O bending bonds. Y₂O₃ pellets are irradiated with 100 MeV Si⁸⁺ ions in the fluence range 1 × 10¹⁰ to 1 × 10¹⁴ ions cm⁻². PL of irradiated samples shows emission with peaks at 417, 432, 465 nm. Y₂O₃ shows a prominent well resolved TL glow with peak at ∼403 K (T_m1) and a weak TL peak at 461 K (T_m2). TL intensity in the present work increases up to about 1 × 10¹¹ ions cm⁻² there after it decreases. The TL kinetic parameters are calculated by glow peak shape method. Activation energy and frequency factors are found to in the range of ∼1.6 eV and ∼10¹⁸ s⁻¹ respectively. - Highlights: • Combustion synthesized Y₂O₃ revealed cubic structure. • 100 MeV Si⁸⁺ ions doesn't induce phase transition in combustion synthesized Y₂O₃. • The prominent TL glow peak intensity increases up to 1 × 10¹¹ ions cm⁻². • The experimental TL glow curves revealed second order kinetics