Study on visible emission of SrZrO3 nanocrystals with Cu-ion implantation

We investigated the visible emission of SrZrO3 (SZO) nanocrystals (NCs) induced by Cu-ion implantation. The SrZrO NCs were synthesized by using the combustion method; then, as-synthesized NCs were annealed at different temperatures up to 1400 °C. The Cu-ion implantation was performed on the post-annealed NCs. In the photoluminescence spectrum for the NCs implanted with Cu ions, we observed sizable orange and blue emissions induced by the Cu-ion implantation, in addition to a violet emission due to structural disorder within the host SZO compound. The intensity of the implantation-induced emission increased with increasing Cu-ion dose. This behavior was more prominent for NCs annealed at higher temperatures. Also, the relative intensity ratio of the orange to the blue emissions changed with the annealing temperature. The relations of these intriguing emission properties to the structural properties of the implanted NCs are discussed.