Up-Conversion in Perovskite Strontium Stannate Nanocrystal Whiskers

We report a simple, eco-friendly facile wet chemical route for the synthesis of pristine and rare–earth metal co-doped (Er/Yb, 10/90, 15/85, 20/80) nano-crystalline, strontium stannate (SrSnO₃) whiskers. It is n-type wide bandgap (~4.1 eV) orthorhombic perovskite semiconductor at room temperature, and reveals increase in band gap with the increase in Er/Yb content (from 4.10 to 4.23, 4.30 to 4.39 eV). The samples exhibited strong emission around 365 nm following band-edge excitation by the wavelength of 290 nm. Further, strong up-conversion emission was observed in visible range at the excitation of wavelength 980 nm. The resistivity values were found to decrease with increase in the dopants Er/Yb concentration due to enhancement of charge carriers.