Characterization of cerium doped yttrium gadolinium aluminate garnet (Y-Gd)3Al5O12:Ce3+ phosphor thin films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition

Abstract

Thin films of cerium doped yttrium gadolinium aluminate garnet (Y-Gd)3Al5O12:Ce3+ (YGAG:Ce) were grown on Si(100) substrates by a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique using a 266 nm Nd:YAG pulsed laser under varying deposition conditions, namely; substrate temperature, substrate – target distance, number of laser pulses and the working atmosphere during the film deposition process. The effect of annealing temperatures on the structure and luminescence properties of the as-deposited (YGAG:Ce) thin films were analysed. Photoluminescence (PL) data were collected in air at room temperature using an F-7000 FL Spectrophotometer. A slight shift in the wavelength of the PL spectra was observed from the thin films when compared to the PL spectra of the phosphor in powder form, which is probably due to a change in the crystal field. The PL intensity of the samples increased as the annealing temperature was increased from 400 oC to around 700 oC and then decreased with continued increase in the annealing temperature.