Luminescent Response to the Transformation of Zinc Selenide in Ceramic Synthesis

The pulsed cathodoluminescence spectra of zinc selenide at room temperature were recorded: feedstock and materials required for the synthesis of optical ceramics. Samples of the cubic phase ZnSe with stoichiometric composition were also studied in the presence of additional phases (hexagonal ZnSe and ZnO). Three characteristic luminescence bands were detected for single-phase cubic zinc selenide. For the cubic ZnSe with stoichiometric composition one strong line of interband luminescence with a width of 12–14 nm is observed in the region of 470 nm; with an excess of selenium, an additional broad band appears at 647 nm, and with an increased impurity content and a small excess of zinc a single band is observed at 588 nm. In two-phase materials containing cubic and hexagonal ZnSe as the main or additional phase luminescence is not observed at room temperature. In the spectrum of cubic ZnSe with an additional hexagonal ZnO phase, a strong broad doublet band of hexagonal ZnO appears at 525–900 nm in addition to the interband luminescence line with a wavelength that decreases from 470 to 466 nm with increasing ZnO content. A rapid analysis of the quality of the ZnSe material can be carried out on the basis of the presence or absence of these pulsed cathodoluminescence bands.