Sol-gel synthesis and photoluminescence of Zn2SiO4:Mn nanoparticles

Manganese-doped zinc orthosilicate (Zn2SiO4:Mn) nanoparticles have been prepared using a sol-gel process followed by annealing. The doping level was varied widely: from 0.1 to 10 at % Mn. The average particle size of the as-prepared material was 20 nm. With increasing annealing temperature, the particle size increased, reaching 150 nm as evaluated by X-ray diffraction. The photoluminescence intensity in the material was shown to depend significantly on the phase composition of the samples, the degree of their crystallinity, and the doping level.