Near UV-Blue Emission From Cerium Doped Zirconium Dioxide Phosphor for Display and Sensing Applications

Near UV-blue emission from cerium ion percentage of ZrO
₂
phosphor was reported in the manuscript. The samples were prepared by combustion synthesis technique which is suitable for less time taking techniques. Starting material for sample preparation are Zr(NO
₃
)
₃
and Ce(NO
₃
)
₃
and urea used as a fuel. Here the variable percentage of cerium ion was (0.1 to 2.5 mol%) used. The prepared sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction analysis for structural analysis and it is found the cubic structure also crystallite size were calculated by Scherer's formula. Morphology and particle size of prepared sample for optimized concentration of cerium was analyzed by field emission gun scanning electron microscopy and high resolution transmission electron microscopy technique. All prepared phosphor with variable concentration of Ce
³⁺
(0.1 to 2.5 mol%) was studied by photoluminescence analysis and it is found that the excitation spectra of prepared phosphor shows broad excitation centred at 396 nm (near UV-blue region). The emission spectra with variable concentration of Ce
³⁺
show strong peaks at 447 nm (blue region). Spectrophotometric determinations of peaks are evaluated by Commission Internationale de I'Eclairage (CIE) technique. Using this phosphor, the desired CIE values including emissions throughout the violet (396 nm) and intense blue (427 nm) of the spectra were achieved. Efficient blue light emitting diodes (LEDs) were fabricated using Ce
³⁺
doped phosphor based on near ultraviolet excited LED lights. Also the prepared phosphor was useful for sensing application such as biological and chemical sensing.