Luminescence of pulsed laser deposited Y₂SiO₅:Tb ³⁺ thin film phosphors on flat and corrugated quartz glass substrates

Y₂SiO₅:Tb³⁺ thin film phosphors were deposited on flat and corrugated quartz glass plates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) techniques in an attempt to use them in field emission displays (FED). As a preliminary step, cathodoluminescence and photoluminescence was monitored as a function of several processing parameters such as the oxygen partial pressure, the deposition time and the annealing conditions for films deposited on flat quartz glass plates. By adopting optimum processing conditions taken from the preliminary optimization process based on flat quartz glass substrates, Y ₂SiO₅:Tb³⁺ thin films were also deposited on substrates on which a two-dimensional photonic crystal layer (2-D PCL) was developed, i.e., corrugated substrates. It was found that the Y ₂SiO₅:Tb³⁺ thin film phosphor developed by PLD represents a promising candidate for use in field emission displays, and that the use of corrugated substrates enhanced the light extraction efficiency by a factor of 1.72.