A cupric oxide (CuO) nanocrystal-doped NaCl single crystal and a pure NaCl single crystal are grown by using the Czochralski (Cz) method. A number of techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, optical absorption in the UV—visible range, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy are used to characterize the obtained NaCl and NaCl:CuO crystals. It is observed that the average radius of CuO crystallites in NaCl:CuO crystal is about 29.87 nm, as derived from the XRD data analysis. Moreover, FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy results confirm the existence of the monoclinic CuO phase in NaCl crystal. UV—visible absorption measurements indicate that the band gap of the NaCl:CuO crystal is 434 nm (2.85 eV), and it shows a significant amount of blue-shift (ΔEg = 1 eV) in the band gap energy of CuO, which is due to the quantum confinement effect exerted by the CuO nanocrystals. The PL spectrum of the NaCl:CuO shows a broad emission band centred at around 438 nm, which is consistent with the absorption measurement.

Undoped and doped KCl single crystals have been successfully elaborated via the Czochralski (Cz) method. The effects of dopant Sb 2 O 3 nanocrystals on structural and optical properties were investigated by a number of techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDAX) analysis, UV-visible and photoluminescence (PL) spectrophotometers. An XRD pattern of KCl:Sb 2 O 3 reveals that the Sb 2 O 3 nanocrystals are in the well-crystalline orthorhombic phase. The broadening of diffraction peaks indicated the presence of a Sb 2 O 3 semiconductor in the nanometer size regime. The shift of absorption and PL peaks is observed near 334 nm and 360 nm respectively due to the quantum confinement effect in Sb 2 O 3 nanocrystals. Particle sizes calculated from XRD studies agree fairly well with those estimated from optical studies. An SEM image of the surface KCl:Sb 2 O 3 single crystal shows large quasi-spherical of Sb 2 O 3 crystallites scattered on the surface. The elemental analysis from EDAX demonstrates that the KCl:Sb 2 O 3 single crystal is slightly rich in oxygen and a source of excessive quantities of oxygen is discussed.

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