Green Fluorescence of Mn-Doped Zn2SiO4 Thin Film Enhanced by Surface Plasmon of Nano-Silver Coating

One thin film of Mn-doped ZnO was deposited on a quartz glass in a sputtering system where RF magnetron and DC were employed as power sources. The specimen was removed and annealed in an atmospheric furnace at 1200 degrees C for 2 h. This annealed specimen was identified as Mn-doped Zn2SiO4 (MZS) crystal. The sample was sputtered to coat it with one Ag film varying in thickness (i.e., 3, 5, and 10 nm), and subjected to rapid thermal annealing (RTA) at 500 degrees C for 15 min. The post-RTA-treated specimens were denoted as 3 Ag(MZS) R, 5 Ag(MZS) R, and 10 Ag(MZS) R, and their surfaces revealed a homogenous distribution of silver nanoparticles. Photoluminescence (PL) measurement showed a fluorescence of 530nm (green light) emitted from MZS. A coating of Ag particles on MZS tended to increase the PL intensity in the following order: 10 Ag(MZS) R (29%) < 5 Ag(MZS) R (72%) < 3 Ag(MZS) R (100%). (C) 2013 The Japan Society of Applied Physics