Decoration of MgO nanowires with Gd2O3 nanoparticles: structure and photoluminescence properties

Abstract

We decorated coated Gd2O3 nanoparticles on MgO nanowires by means of Gd sputtering and subsequent thermal annealing. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy. The surface roughness observed by SEM was revealed to be Gd2O3 nanoparticles in terms of TEM observation. The PL spectra exhibited a 2.9 eV-peak, which originated from the MgO nanowires, and thermal annealing produced green emission at about 2.4 eV, which is directly associated with the Gd2O3 structure. An additional weak peak at 2.0 eV was found to be related to impurities in the Gd2O3 structure.