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Abstract: Nanocrystalline Lu2O3 doped with 1at.% of Eu was obtained precipitating hydroxide of lutetium with urea at 80°C from water solution and decomposing the hydroxide to oxide at 500°C. Polyvinyl alcohol was used to hinder the particles growth during precipitation. The average size of the fabricated particles was 2–5nm. Although at 500°C the hydroxide decomposed to Eu-doped Lu2O3 traces of OH impurities were present in the material unless heated at 1200°C. Radioluminescence was very poor for samples heated at 800°C or lower temperature. After heating the precipitated powder at or above 1200°C the efficiency jumped 45 times reaching 75% of the output from commercial microcrystalline Gd2O2S:Eu. The properties make nanocrystalline Lu2O3:Eu prepared in the described way a promising X-ray phosphor for planar digital medical imaging. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper reports on the course of decomposition of hydrated lutetium nitrate and lutetium chloride to Lu2O3 in the eutectic mixture of NaNO2 and KNO2. It was shown that a crystallographically pure phase of the cubic Lu2O3 is formed at temperature as low as 250 °C. IR spectra revealed that the recovered powder contains some OH-contamination, however. The powders are characterized by crystallites sizes in the range of 18–30 nm in average. Emission and excitation spectra of Eu-doped powders show characteristic features for Eu3+ ion in an oxide host, which indicates that the procedure is appropriate for making activated nanoparticulate oxide phosphors. Most profound emission appears around 611 nm and the luminescence from the powder made starting with Lu(NO3)3 was noticeably higher compared to the product obtained from LuCl3. The excitation spectrum of Eu3+ emission at 611 nm contains a band related to the fundamental absorption of the lutetia host lattice, which indicates an existence of the host-to-activator energy transfer. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The size effect of nanoparticles on optical properties of Lu2O3:Eu3+ was investigated. No pronounced effect was observed for structure of emission spectra. It was found that effect is mainly manifested in the decay profiles of Eu3+ emission. We have noticed that the decay times were almost the same for low concentrations of Eu3+ ions. It is concluded that the size effect is associated with agglomeration of Eu3+ in nanorange particles. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Nanoparticulate powders of Eu-doped Lu2O3 were prepared using combustion process and glycine as a fuel. Such powders could be relatively easily sintered to translucent bodies at 1700 °C. Excitation and emission spectra were recorded for both types of the materials. The excitation spectra revealed the existence of much more efficient energy transfer from the host to the dopant in the sintered ceramics. Strong variations in the relative intensities of the excitation transitions are seen when comparing the powder and its sintered analog. This was explained assuming preferential occupation of the C3i site in the glycine-derived powder in comparison with the pellets. Most profound emission under X-ray excitation was found for the sintered ceramic doped with 5% of Eu. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Using combustion synthesis and urea as a fuel, Lu2O3 powders were prepared and their morphology defined with HRTEM measurements. The powders were sintered at 1700 °C for 5 h and the microstructure of the obtained ceramics was characterized. It turned out that the as-made powders were strongly agglomerated compositions with a mean particle size of 15–25 nm. High-temperature sintering caused some increase in the size of the crystallites, diameter increased to an average of 25–35 nm. However, domains of about 200–300 nm diameter were formed. These were separated by relatively broad transient regions. The inter-domain regions of rather ample thickness are blamed for relatively high scattering of the sintered ceramic specimens. The formation of the domains is correlated to the existence of agglomerates in the urea-derived nanoparticulate powders. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Spectroscopic properties of Lu 2 O 3 :Tb pellets sintered at 1000 C or 1700 C were investigated. The sintering temperature did not influence the optically excited emission and excitation spectra of the materials. However, the treatment temperature did influence the emission under cathode-rays stimulation. While the specimens sintered at 1000 C showed only luminescent lines above 480 nm resulting from a radiative relaxation of the 5 D 4 level, the samples heated at 1700 C did show some luminescence in the blue region resulting from 5 D 3 → 7 F J emission. The blue emission could be recorded exclusively upon cathode-rays irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is dedicated to the preparation and characterization of the radio-, thermo-, and photoluminescent properties of Lu2O3:Eu and Lu2O3:Tb nanopowder (NPs) scintillators, prepared by means of hydrothermal processing, and their film analogues made of these NPs by the spin coating method. The luminescent properties of NPs and films were characterized by cathodoluminescence (CL), photoluminescence (PL), X-ray excited radioluminescence (RL), and thermoluminescence (TL) at low and high temperatures. In Lu2O3:Eu NPs and films, mostly the luminescence of Eu3+ ions occupying the C2 site of the host, with the most intensive peaks at 611.6 nm and a decay time of 1.5 ms, was observed. On the contrary, two types of Tb3+ centers in the C2 and C3i sites with the main emission lines at 542.4 and 544.0 nm and the corresponding 4f→5d excitation bands at 270 and 305 nm and decay times of t1/e = 2.17 and 3.96 ms were observed in the case of Lu2O3:Tb NPs and films. Indications were noted that Tb3+ in the C3i symmetry position was most active in the CL spectra of Lu2O3:Tb NPs and a respective film. Thermoluminescent peaks at 110 °C and 170 °C for Lu2O3:Eu NPs and at 75 °C and 120 °C in Lu2O3:Tb NPs were observed corresponding to the hole and electron traps, respectively. Significantly different onsets of temperature quenching of Eu3+ and Tb3+ luminescence in Lu2O3:Eu and Lu2O3:Tb NPs were found at ~90 °C and ~320 °C, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]