Irradiation-induced luminescence enhancement effect of ZnS:Mn(2+) nanoparticles in polymer films.

The effects of irradiation-induced luminescence enhancement by ZnS:Mn(2+) nanoparticles in poly(vinyl butyral) films are reported. The luminescence intensity increases several times when fresh samples are irradiated by a 248-nm excimer laser. The decay time also increases with exposure time. The increase in the initial intensity of the slow component of luminescence makes the main contribution to the enhancement effect. A tentative model is proposed in which the efficiency of the energy transfer to Mn(2+) ions increases with exposure. States at interfaces are expected to play an important role in this process.