Hydrothermal synthesis and optical luminescence center attribution in samarium-doped zirconia nanocrystals

Sm[Formula: see text] -doped ZrO 2 (SDZ) nanocrystals were prepared via a hydrothermal route without subsequent calcination. These samples underwent a series of characterizations, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) spectral. The results showed pure cubic ZrO 2 nanocrystals, with a crystallite size of 8.4 nm, were achieved by doping 8 mol% Sm[Formula: see text]. It was observed that the concentration of Sm[Formula: see text] had a significant impact on the crystallite structure of the samples, which exhibited an array of spherical shape and irregular aggregates. The inclusion of PL emission bands, spanning from the ultraviolet to blue-green range, highlighted three distinct bands. These were analyzed using Gaussian fittings and were attributed to three different types of defects, referred to as the F, F 1 , and F 2 centers, respectively.