Tailored synthesis of ZnO:Er(III) nanosystems by an hybrid RF-sputtering/Sol-Gel route

The rational design of rare-earth doped materials represents one of the major goals of currentresearch in the field of optoelectronics. In this study, ZnO:Er(III) nanosystems were synthesized bymeans of a hybrid rf-sputtering/sol-gel SG route, consisting of the erbium guest rf-sputtering onporous zinc oxide xerogels host obtained by the SG method, followed by ex situ thermaltreatments in air 300-600 °C, 1-5 h. Particular attention was focused on tailoring the erbiumcontent and distribution in the resulting systems by optimization of the processing conditions. Thestructural, morphological, and compositional characteristics and their interplay with the synthesisprocedure were investigated by glancing incidence x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectronspectroscopy, x-ray excited Auger electron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry,UV-visible-near IR absorption spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The obtained resultshighlight the advantages and versatility of the adopted preparation strategy in tailoring the amountand distribution of Er(III) species in high purity ZnO matrices, resulting in nanosystems endowedwith compositional and morphological homogeneity at nanoscale level.