Local structural environment and photoluminescence of Er3+ ions doped in indium tin oxide nanopowder

It has been experimentally demonstrated that the indium tin oxide can be doped with rare earth element through the conventional sol–gel technique. Erbium in its trivalent state replaces the indium site in the indium tin oxide lattice. Homogeneously distributed and optically activated Er3+ ions then allow a strong photoluminescence emission at ∼1.5 μm. Reduced particle size and the existence of Sn are believed to affect the local structural environments of doped Er3+ ions, thus contributing to the radiative emission properties: Large spectral bandwidth without concentration quenching is useful for practical applications.