Yttrium silicate and zinc silicate nanoparticles were formed inside a transparent porous SiO₂ template, by impregnating layers of porous silicon with nitrate solutions of yttrium and zinc, followed by appropriate heat treatment. Yttrium silicate nanoparticles were doped with red emitting Eu³⁺ and blue emitting Ce³⁺ ions, while zinc silicate nanoparticles were doped with blue emitting Eu²⁺ ions. Doping was carried out by adding appropriate impurity ions in the impregnation solution. The product is a dispersion of nanoparticles scattered inside a transparent porous SiO2. The photoluminescence of the samples show strong luminescence of the impurity ions upon UV illumination. The blue luminescence from the Ce³⁺ doped yttrium silicate nanoparticles is stronger than the commercial Y₂SiO₅:Ce³⁺ phosphors. The doped nanoparticles act effectively as "nanophosphors" stabilized inside the SiO₂ porous matrix. The size of the nanoparticles was between 20nm to 200nm. The yttrium silicate nanoparticles show a mixture of Y₂SiO₅ and Y₂Si₂O₇ phases, while the zinc silicate nanoparticles look more or less amorphous. Generally we observe an increasing trend in the luminescence intensity, as the extent of doping increases. In case of Eu³⁺, the luminescence decay time is shorter for higher doping. Detailed structural and optical analysis will be presented.

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