Luminescent properties of sol-gel deposited Eu : TiO2 thin films

In this work we show the results on the growth and optical characterization of TiO2 thin films doped with Eu atoms. Eu:TiO2 films were grown at room t emperature with different Eu concentrations by sol-gel on Si and Coming gla ss substrates. A different crystalline structure is developed for the films deposited on Coming glass than those deposited on Si as observed from x-ra y diffraction experiments. Room and low temperature photoluminescence (PL) was measured by using two different lines (325 and 442 nm) of a HeCd laser. A strong PL signal associated to the D-5(0)--> F-7(2) transition from Eu+3 was observed. A better emission was obtained from those films deposited on Si substrates. Finally, the evolution of the PL signal is studied when the samples are annealed at different temperatures in O-2 atmosphere.