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Red emitting cubic Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ nanophosphor with an average particle size in the range of 10-20 nm was synthesized using a more facile gel-polymer pyrolysis process. The maximum relative luminescence yield obtained for the nanophosphor prepared with a urea and PVA combination is about 30% in relation to the bulk Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ industrial red phosphor. The photoluminescence excitation spectrum monitoring the dominant hypersensitive 5 D 0 f 7 F 2 red emission of Eu 3+ comprises two parts, viz., the dominant Eu 3+ -O 2 chargetransfer band and a weak excitonic band (or its tail) corresponding to the Y 3+ -O 2-host matrix absorption. The relative strengths of these two bands have a strong dependence on the particle size. Furthermore, in this nanocrystalline insulator system having a band gap of about 6 eV, it is possible to observe a size dependent blue shift (∼600 cm -1 ) in the photoluminescence excitation band corresponding to the Urbach tail region of the yttria host matrix. Both the bulk and nanocrystalline Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ show storage luminescence, a phenomenon previously unknown in this system. The mechanisms responsible for this appear to be different in these systems. The storage luminescence in the bulk system can be attributed to lattice defects, whereas that in the nanocrystalline counterpart is from a meta-stable, photoinduced surface-states arising from chemisorbed species.

Fluorescence properties have been studied for Mn:ZnS crystallites with average diameter of 4 nm prepared by an aqueous colloidal method under 266 nm light excitation. The intensity ratio of the blue band at ∼430 nm to the orange band at ∼590 nm has decreased after the preparation on a time scale of hours in aqueous solution. On the other hand, hyperfine structures of Mn 2+ in the electron paramagnetic resonance spectrum have increased markedly on the same time scale in solution samples. These phenomena are attributed to the redistribution of defect centers in nanocrystals. Such phenomena have not been observed in samples incorporated into poly(vinyl alcohol). The orange emission is mainly due to the 6 A 1 r 4 T 1 transition of Mn 2+ , while the blue emission is tentatively assigned to the donor-acceptor pair transition in which the acceptor is related to the Zn 2+ vacancy. Fluorescence decay times of the blue and orange bands have been found to be ∼10 ns and ∼1 ms, respectively, the latter being the same as in the bulk samples. A weak fluorescent component with fast kinetics observed in the orange region has been identified as a tail of the blue band. No lifetime shortening of the Mn 2+ emission due to quantum confinement has been observed, contrary to reports in the literature.