ISSN 0004-881X

Cathodoluminescence of Boron Nitride Nanotubes Doped by Europium

by H. Chen ^1*, H. Z. Zhang ¹, Y. Chen ¹, Y. Liu ², C. P. Li ¹, and J. S. Williams¹

1 Research School of Physical sciences and Engineering, The Australian National University, ACT 0200, Australia
2 Research School of Chemistry, The Australian National University, ACT 0200, Australia

Abstract

Boron nitride (BN) nanotubes are wide-band-gap semiconductors, which make them an ideal host material for doping with rare-earth ions. Special luminescent properties are expected in doped BN nanotubes for applications in nanosized lighting and display devices. Europium (Eu) doped BN nanotubes have been synthesized by using a ball-milling and annealing method. A broad visible light emission, excited by electrons, from the Eu2+ doped BN nanotubes has been realized. The Eu element content in the nanotubes has been determined by electron probe microanalysis. The mechanism of visible light emission from the Eu-doped BN nanotubes is discussed.

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