The roles of Ag, in and P in the thermoluminescence emission of Li2B4O7 phosphors

Abstract Transition metal ions such as Cu and Ag, and other activators such as In, P et al. are doped into lithium borate (Li 2 B 4 O 7 or LBO) by the sintering technique. The roles of the Ag, indium and P dopants in the phosphors have been studied using the methods of thermoluminescence (TL) glow curves and TL 3D spectra. The results indicate that the activators Ag, indium can enhance the TL peak about 210 °C, and there is an obvious concentration quenching. As the In or Ag concentration increases, the TL spectrum of LBO:Cu phosphors have an obvious shift of wavelength. The activator P can enhance the 210 °C TL peak too, but there is no obviously concentration quenching，and the TL spectrum has no obvious change as the P concentration increase in LBO:Cu0.02%,Ag0.02%, even the concentration of P is up to 0.2%. Some reasonable discussions about concentration quenching and TL spectra shift were given in this paper.