ECS Transactions 16 (30) 23-31 (2009)
ECS Transactions 16 (30) 23-31 (2009)
ECS Transactions 16 (30) 23-31 (2009)
R. Balakrishnaiaha,b, Dong Woo Kima, Soung Soo Yia,*, Kwang Duk Kimc, Sung Hoon
Kimc, Kiwan Jangb, Ho Sueb Leeband Jung Hyun Jeongd
a
Department of Electronic Materials Engineering, Silla University, Busan 617-736,
Republic of Korea
b
Department of Physics, Changwon National University, Changwon 641- 773, Republic
of Korea
c
Department of Engineering in Energy and Applied Chemistry, Silla University, Busan
617-736, Republic of Korea
d
Department of Physics, Pukyong National University, Busan 608-737, Republic of
Korea
Introduction
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ECS Transactions, 16 (30) 23-31 (2009)
Experimental details
The XRD patterns of the prepared samples were shown in Fig. 1. As can be seen
from Fig. 1, the diffraction peaks appeared at the diffraction angle 2θ of around 22.05
(110), 22.30 (001), 31.55 (111), 44.95 (220), 45.60 (002, 50.75 (221), 51.20 (112), 56.00
(311), 56.40 (022) and 65.95 (222) were found consistent with the theoretical values of
KNbO3 (JCPDS No. 32-0822) indicating the well formation of KNbO3. Most of the
diffraction peaks are found on the higher angle side when compared with JCPDS data
indicating the lattice contraction with incorporation of Nd3+ ions into the KNbO3 lattice.
The lattice contraction with incorporation of Nd3+ ions may be attributed to substitution
of Nd3+ ions into the K+ sites that are having relatively larger ionic radius. All the samples
are found orthorhombic in structure because of the split of the diffraction peaks, (220)
and (002) (10). According to earlier literature, KNbO3 phosphor undergoes phase
transitions from rhombohedral to orthorhombic at -10 ℃, orthorhombic to tetragonal at
225 ℃ and finally tetragonal to cubic at 435 ℃ temperatures (11-14). The observed
orthorhombic phase of the present KNbO3 samples at room temperature is in agreement
with these results. As can be seen from Fig. 1, KNN01 and KNN03 samples are found
single orthorhombic phase while an additional NdNbO4 phase (JCPDS No. 22-1175) is
appeared at the diffraction angle 2θ of 27.80 and 29.45, (represented by ‘*’ mark) at
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ECS Transactions, 16 (30) 23-31 (2009)
0 .9 λ
D = (1)
β ( 2θ ) Cos θ
and was found 25 nm for KNN01 and KNN03 samples, 30.6 nm for KNN05 and 25.8 nm
for KNN07 samples. The crystallinity of the samples is found not much varied with the
concentration of Nd3+ ions, except the formation of additional phase. The SEM images of
the samples are shown in Fig. 2 which represent the surface microstructures of the
KNbO3:Nd3+ phosphors under present investigation. Agglomeration of particles can be
clearly noticed from the SEM images.
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ECS Transactions, 16 (30) 23-31 (2009)
Conclusions
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Korea Research Foundation grant funded by the Korean
Government (KRF-J00902).
References
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ECS Transactions, 16 (30) 23-31 (2009)
Fig. 5. Crystal-field levels corresponding to the 4F3/2 → 4I11/2 transition of Nd3+ ions in
KNbO3 nano-phosphors.
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