Effect of ZnS nanoparticles in photoluminescence properties of Tb3+ ion doped silica glass for photonic applications.

The ZnS nanoparticles doped with Tb3+ ions and ZnS doped silica glass-ceramic were synthesized by sol–gel method. The density, refractive index and various physical properties were calculated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) studies confirm the formation of hexagonal polycrystalline structure. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses revealed that variation in size of the particles lies between 10 to 50 nm. FTIR were used to examine the structural characteristics of prepared glass samples at specific annealing temperatures. The band gap energy of the as-synthesized nanocomposite glass was 3.18 eV with a green light emission. The influence of ZnS nanoparticles on Tb3+ ions doped glass was studies by photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The PL emission intensity increased with the concentrations of ZnS. The CIE chromaticity revealed that the tunability of color changes from blue-green to yellowish green region as ZnS concentration increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]