Richard Kim

Advisor: William J. Ready

 

will propose a doctoral thesis entitled,

 

Fluorescent and Transparent Materials and Thin Film Coatings for Temperature Sensing Applications


On

 

Wednesday, November 13th at 3:00 p.m.

Love Building Room 229

771 Ferst Dr NW, Atlanta, GA 30332

and/or

 Virtually via MS Teams or Zoom

Link

 

Committee
            Dr. William J. Ready – School of Materials Science and Engineering (advisor)
            Dr. Ellen Mazumdar – School of Mechanical Engineering
            Dr. Zhitao Kang  – School of Materials Science and Engineering

Abstract

In this work, we developed a high-temperature photoluminescent coating based on europium-doped yttrium oxide for use on transparent windows in engines and combustors. Europium oxide and yttrium oxide were sequentially deposited onto silicon and sapphire substrates using ion-assisted deposition (IAD), followed by high-temperature annealing to achieve phase formation. The resulting thin films exhibited strong photoluminescence under UV excitation, with the performance of the coatings assessed under high temperature. Advanced characterization techniques, including field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), were employed to analyze the surface morphology and phase composition of the films. Furthermore, luminescent properties such as photoluminescence (PL) emission and lifetime decay of these thin films are studied to observe the temperature dependence. By studying the temperature dependent behavior of luminescent properties, we will be able use the europium-doped yttrium oxide thin films as temperature sensors. This research highlights the potential of europium-doped yttrium oxide coatings for enhancing the performance and durability of transparent windows in high-temperature applications.