Photoluminescent cubic and monoclinic HfO₂nanoparticles: effects of temperature and ambient

We report on the one-pot synthesis and characterization of pure cubic and monoclinic phase HfO2 nanoparticles. An average particles size of 2.6 nm was estimated from transmission electron microscopy studies. The equivalent synthesis conditions of the two polymorphs provided means for direct comparison of their optical absorption and emission properties, which are found to exhibit different behaviors as a function of temperature and ambient environment. The origin of the strong visible luminescence observed from both cubic and monoclinic HfO2 is discussed in terms of surface-defects and nanosize of the particles. The comparative analysis of the PL responses of the two polymorphs suggests that emission at 3.1 eV originates from the oxygen vacancy related defects.