Er³⁺ ions and ZnO QDs codoped amorphous silica thin films are prepared by the modified sol-gel spin-coating technique. By introducing the ZnO QDs as sensitizers, the PL emission intensity of Er³⁺ ions is enhanced by more than two orders of magnitude. With the increasing annealing temperature, the lengthening PL emission lifetime indicates the gradual passivation of the non-radiative trap states. The thermal quenching behavior of PL emission intensity is analyzed by the temperature-dependent PL spectra. With the increasing annealing temperature, the decrease of activation energy suggests the narrowing of energy level difference between the excited state of Er³⁺ ions and the defect state of ZnO QDs. The gradually improved phonon-assisted energy transfer efficiency results in the greatly enhanced PL efficiency of Er³⁺ ions. These results will be a starting point for further research on the sensitization mechanisms in the rare earth ions and wide-bandgap QDs codoped amorphous silica.

Er ³⁺离子和ZnO QDs共掺杂的非晶二氧化硅薄膜是通过改进的溶胶-凝胶旋涂技术制备的。通过引入 ZnO QD 作为敏化剂，Er ³⁺离子的 PL 发射强度提高了两个数量级以上。随着退火温度的升高，PL发射寿命的延长表明非辐射陷阱态逐渐钝化。PL 发射强度的热猝灭行为通过与温度相关的 PL 光谱进行分析。随着退火温度的升高，活化能的降低表明Er ³⁺激发态之间的能级差缩小离子和 ZnO QD 的缺陷态。声子辅助能量转移效率的逐渐提高导致Er ³⁺离子的PL效率大大提高。这些结果将成为进一步研究稀土离子和宽带隙量子点共掺杂非晶二氧化硅的敏化机制的起点。