Influence of the presence of a fluxing agent and its composition on the spectral characteristics of ZnS(Cu) obtained by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis

Abstract

Investigated in this work were the photoluminescence spectra and luminescence excitation spectra of powered ZnS:Cu, obtained using the method of selfpropagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) with addition of NaCl and MgCl₂ as a fluxing agent into the charge and without them. It was shown that increasing the amount of fraction with the particle sizes ≤5 nm in powdered ZnS:Cu-SHS, where fluxing agents are present in the charge, is caused by the decrease in temperature inside the reactor in the course of the synthesis reaction. Besides, related increasing the intensity of the PL blue band with λmax ~ 450…465 nm in powdered ZnS:Cu-SHS/MgCl₂, which is associated with redistribution of the copper impurity in the bulk of microcrystals, probably, occurring as a result of increasing the partial pressure of Cl during synthesis.