Observation of room temperature photoluminescence in proton irradiated SrTiO3 single crystal

Abstract

We have irradiated SrTiO3 single crystal with 3 MeV-proton (H+) beam and found that blue (lambda = 420 nm)-, green lambda = 500 nm)- and infrared (lambda = 800 nm)- frequency photoluminescence (PL) are induced simultaneously at room temperature. TEM and EELS analyses show that an oxygen-deficient amorphous layer is formed at the crystal surface by the proton irradiation. Possible origin of the PL-effect is discussed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.