CHARACTERIZATION OF ERBIUM OXIDE NANOPARTICLES

Considering the advantages of nanoscale materials such as being lighter, more robust, programmable materials, less material usage, less energy requirement during production phase, and no longer producing materials, it is important to produce nanomaterials and determine their properties. Therefore, the characterization of nanomaterials has become one of the pillars of material science. An important aspect of nanoscale material science is the method of characterization of materials that we use or study to learn more about them. In recent years, great importance has been given to rare earth materials with nanostructures. One of the rare earth elements is Erbium and it is one of the newly discovered materials that is used in high technology. Erbium oxide (Er2O3) nanoparticles (NPs) are used in electronic devices. It is used in capacitors, metal oxide semiconductor transistors, and as dopants for optical fiber and laser materials. In this study, Erbium based Er2O3 NPs were characterized. The characterization of Er2O3 was realized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The number of specific peaks and their position fit very well with those from standard XRD spectrum and revealed pure Er2O3 nano oxide. SEM analysis of these particles showed their spherical shapes that are in great extent uniform distributed with nano sizes ranged between 40-60 nm.