Pressure-induced amorphization of YVO sub(4): Eu super(3+) nanoboxes

A structural transformation from the zircon-type structure to an amorphous phase has been found in YVO sub(4):Eu super(3+) nanoboxes at high pressures above 12.7 GPa by means of x-ray diffraction measurements. Flowever, the pair distribution function of the high-pressure phase shows that the local s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nanotechnology 2016-01, Vol.27 (2), p.1-8
Main Authors: Ruiz-Fuertes, J, Gomis, O, Leon-Luis, S F, Schrodt, N, Manjon, F J, Ray, S, Santamaria-Perez, D, Sans, J A, Ortiz, H M, Errandonea, D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amorphous structure
Diffraction
Nanostructure
Nanotechnology
Phase transformations
Photoluminescence
Transformations
X-rays
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Summary:A structural transformation from the zircon-type structure to an amorphous phase has been found in YVO sub(4):Eu super(3+) nanoboxes at high pressures above 12.7 GPa by means of x-ray diffraction measurements. Flowever, the pair distribution function of the high-pressure phase shows that the local structure of the amorphous phase is similar to the scheelite-type YVO sub(4). These results are confirmed both by Raman spectroscopy and Eu super(3+) photoluminescence which detect the phase transition to a scheelite-type structure at 10.1 and 9.1 GPa, respectively. The irreversibility of the phase transition is observed with the three techniques after a maximum pressure in the upstroke of around 20 GPa. The existence of two super(5)D sub(0)[arrowright] super(7)F sub(0) photoluminescence peaks confirms the existence of two local environments for Eu super(3+), at least for the low-pressure phase. One environment is the expected for substituting Y super(3+) and the other is likely a disordered environment possibly found at the surface of the nanoboxes.
ISSN:0957-4484
1361-6528
DOI:10.1088/0957-4484/27/2/025701