Positron-annihilation and photoluminescence studies of nanostructured ZrO2

In the present work, photoluminescence and Doppler broadening depth-resolved positron annihilation spectroscopy was performed on pure zirconia nanopowders. Zirconia nanopowders were grown by a hydrothermal microwave-driven process followed by annealing in oxygen atmosphere. Photoluminescence under 274 nm wavelength excitation from a 150 W high-pressure Xe exhibits similar spectra, in the region from 320 to 820 nm, although its intensity depends on the annealing. Positron annihilation Doppler-broadening spectra show low values of the normalized S-parameter, varying little with the depth, from 0.495 on the surface to 0.47-0.49 in bulk. Both high the annealing temperature and oxygen concentrations, lead to low bulk S-values. The ortho-positronium (o-Ps) fraction is about 10-11% for all samples on the surface, whereas it is reduced to 7-8% in the bulk for samples annealed at 700°C and 5-6% for samples annealed at 800°C. Both photoluminescence (PL) and positron studies show the presence of defects in all samples. The o-Ps signal suggests a high porosity of samples, particularly at a depth down to 10 nm.