Carbon doping-induced defect centers in anodized alumina with enhanced optically stimulated luminescence

• Published in: Journal of materials science. Materials in electronics 2021-04, Vol.32 (8), p.10635-10643
• Main Authors: Bhowmick, S., Pal, S., Singh, A., Khan, S. A., Mishra, D. R., Choudhary, R. J., Phase, D. M., Chini, T. K., Bakshi, A. K., Kanjilal, Aloke
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aluminum oxide; Beta rays; Carbon; Cathodoluminescence; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemistry and Materials Science; Continuous radiation; Electron traps; Fluence; Luminescence; Materials Science; Optical and Electronic Materials; Phosphors; Photoelectrons; Room temperature; X ray photoelectron spectroscopy
• ISSN: 0957-4522; 1573-482X
• DOI: 10.1007/s10854-021-05719-7

Anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) in amorphous form is shown to be a prospective phosphor for optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) by implanting 50 keV carbon ions at a fluence of 1 × 10 16  ions/cm 2 at room temperature. An almost 20-fold enhancement in continuous wave OSL (CW-OSL) sensitivity is obtained in carbon-doped AAO (C:AAO) by exposing to beta radiation, while an almost linear increase in CW-OSL intensity is recorded with increasing dose from 0.3 to 5 Gy. However, cathodoluminescence (CL) suggests an upsurge of oxygen vacancies, especially F + and F 2 2+ centers, at the cost of F center-related defects in C:AAO. Detailed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis further reveals that the implanted carbon atoms can act as cationic impurities in AAO and stabilize the nearby F + centers via substitution of Al 3+  by C 2+ . The combined CL and XPS results are also shown to be capable of illustrating the CW-OSL response. This study would, therefore, be a benchmark for understanding the role of carbon in the substitutional sites of AAO for generating OSL active electron traps.