Enhancement of cathodoluminescent and photoluminescent properties of Eu:Y2O3 luminescent films by vacuum cooling

This letter investigates the role of postdeposition oxygen treatments upon their luminescent properties by synthesizing ${\mathrm{Eu:Y}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{O}}_{\mathrm{3}}$ films by pulsed laser deposition under different conditions and subjecting them to various postdeposition oxygen treatments. Our results have shown that ${\mathrm{Eu:Y}}_{\mathrm{2}}{\mathrm{O}}_{\mathrm{3}}$ films grown in 300 mTorr oxygen ambient and cooled in vacuum ${\text{(10}}^{\text{−6}} \mathrm{Torr})$ after the termination of growth exhibit better photoluminescent and cathodoluminescent brightness than those grown in (i) vacuum and cooled in vacuum and (ii) 300 mTorr oxygen and cooled in 2 Torr oxygen. Two possible mechanisms have been proposed to explain these results.