Crystals (Apr 2022)

The High-Energy Milling Preparation and Spectroscopic Characterization of Rare-Earth Ions Doped BaY<sub>2</sub>F<sub>8</sub> Nanoparticles

  • Aleksander V. Koshelev,
  • Natalia A. Arkharova,
  • Kirill V. Khaydukov,
  • Mir Saeed Seyed Dorraji,
  • Denis N. Karimov,
  • Vera V. Klechkovskaya

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst12050599
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 5
p. 599

Abstract

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BaY2F8 nanoparticles (NPs), doped with Yb3+ and Er3+ ions, were successfully produced by high-energy ball-milling. High-quality monoclinic single crystals (sp. gr. C2/m, a = 0.6969(3), b = 1.0502(1), c = 0.4254(1) nm, β = 99.676°) grown from the melt by the Bridgman technique were used as raw materials. The prepared nanocrystals were comprehensively studied by X-ray diffraction analysis, transmission electron microscopy, and optical spectroscopy. The fabrication possibility of single-phase irregular shaped Ba(Y0.964Yb0.030Er0.006)2F8 NPs in the size range of 20–100 nm with a milling duration of 10 h at 600 rpm is demonstrated. Ba(Y0.964Yb0.030Er0.006)2F8 NPs show intense luminescence by both up- (λ = 540 and 650 nm) and down-conversion (λ = 1540 nm) mechanisms upon IR excitation (λ = 980 nm). A qualitative comparison of the spectroscopic characteristics of the produced Ba(Y0.964Yb0.030Er0.006)2F8 NPs with the initial bulk crystal and the widely used up-conversion β-Na1.5(Y1.17Yb0.3Er0.03)F6 NPs is presented. Experimental data offer great opportunities of the Ba(Y0.964Yb0.030Er0.006)2F8 NPs applications in nanophotonics and biotechnology. High-energy ball-milling has potential as a versatile method for the scalable production of fluoride nanoparticles.

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