MgO:Eu 3+ red nanophosphor: Low temperature synthesis and photoluminescence properties P.B. Devaraja a,b , D.N. Avadhani b , S.C. Prashantha c,⇑ , H. Nagabhushana a , S.C. Sharma d , B.M. Nagabhushana e , H.P. Nagaswarupa c , H.B. Premkumar c a Centre for Nano Research (CNR), Tumkur University, Tumkur 572 103, India b Department of Physics, C.M.R.T.U, RV College of Engineering, Bangalore 560 091, India c Department of Science, East West Institute of Technology, Bangalore 560 091, India d B.S.Narayan Center of Excellance for Advanced Materials, Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.M.S.Institute of Technology, Yelahanka, Bangalore 560 064, India e Department of Chemistry, M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore 560 054, India highlights  Nanomaterials offer promising opportunities for applications in various fields.  Magnesium oxide (MgO) is an excellent wide band gap insulator.  Structural and PL of MgO:Eu 3+ nanophosphor was studied.  Highest emission was recorded at 3 mol% of Eu 3+ doped MgO. graphical abstract article info Article history: Received 13 June 2013 Received in revised form 4 October 2013 Accepted 17 October 2013 Available online 25 October 2013 Keywords: MgO:Eu 3+ Phosphor Photoluminescence Optical absorption abstract Nanoparticles of Eu 3+ doped (0–9 mol%) MgO were prepared using low temperature (400 °C) solution combustion technique with metal nitrate as precursor and glycine as fuel. The powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) patterns of the as-formed products show single cubic phase and no further calcination was required. The crystallite size was obtained using Scherer’s formula and was found to be 5–6 nm. The effect of Eu 3+ ions on luminescence characteristics of MgO was studied and the results were discussed in detail. These phosphors exhibit bright red emission upon 395 nm excitation. The characteristic photo- luminescence (PL) emission peaks at 580, 596, 616, 653, 696 and 706 nm ( 5 D 0 ? 7 F j = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 ) were recorded due to Eu 3+ ions. The electronic transition corresponding to 5 D 0 ? 7 F 2 of Eu 3+ ions (616 nm) was stronger than the magnetic dipole transition corresponding to 5 D 0 ? 7 F 1 of Eu 3+ ions (596 nm). The international commission on illumination (CIE) chromaticity co-ordinates were calculated from emission spectra, the values (x, y) were very close to national television system committee (NTSC) stan- dard value of red emission. Therefore the present phosphor was highly useful for display applications. Ó 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Introduction Recently, much attention for red emitting long lasting lumines- cent phosphors have been focused to realize a full palette of persis- tent phosphor colors. This property makes long persistent phosphors, potential candidate to be applied in luminescent fields. 1386-1425/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.saa.2013.10.060 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 9945954010; fax: +91 9886021344. E-mail addresses: scphysics@gmail.com, bhushanvlc@gmail.com (S.C. Prashantha), bhushanvlc@gmail.com (H. Nagabhushana). Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 121 (2014) 46–52 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/saa