Growth and cathodoluminescent characteristics of blue emitting cerium-doped zinc aluminate layers synthesized by spray pyrolysis technique

Cerium doped ZnAl O cathodoluminescent films have been deposited by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis deposition technique. X-ray diffraction measurements on these layers have shown that their crystalline structure depends on the substrate temperature. Cerium ions have been introduced into zinc aluminate films for produce violet-blue cathodoluminescence emissions. The behavior of cathodoluminescence emission intensity has been studied, as a function of the variations on doping concentrations, in the start spraying solution, substrate temperatures and the electron accelerating voltage. Concentration quenching of the cathodoluminescence occurs at about 0.8 percent of activator (Ce) concentrations inside the synthesized films. The surface morphology characteristics of these films, as a function of the substrate temperature, and the chemical composition, as measured by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, are also exhibited. © 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.