Detailed luminescence (RL, PL, CL, TL) behaviors of Tb3+ and Dy3+ doped LiMgPO4 synthesized by sol-gel method

Abstract The un-doped, Tb3+ and, Dy3+ doped LiMgPO4 phosphors were successfully synthesized by the sol-gel method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed to characterize the light-emitting phosphors. The XRD spectra verify the phase formation of samples. The luminescence properties were analyzed by radioluminescence (RL), photoluminescence (PL), cathodoluminescence (CL) and, thermoluminescence (TL) spectra. Also, the effect of Tb3+, Dy3+ ions in LiMgPO4 was determined on the luminescence intensity in detail. The RL spectrum of un-doped LiMgPO4 consists of two broad emission bands in the 310–450 nm and 575–850 nm range. The maximum intensities of these bands were observed at 360 nm and 655 nm. The emission spectrum of Dy3+ doped LiMgPO4 under X-ray excitation show characteristic emissions of Dy3+ corresponds to 4F9/2→6Hj transitions. In addition to the 5D4→7Fj (j:6–1) transitions of Tb3+ doped LiMgPO4 phosphor, strong emissions derived from 5D3→7Fj (j:6–3) transitions were observed in the blue region. Also, these blue emissions were seen at RL, PL and, CL spectra. The optical absorption spectra were recorded and the energy band gaps were calculated 3.65 eV, 3.30 eV and, 4,01 eV for un-doped, Dy3+ and, Tb3+ doped LiMgPO4 phosphors, respectively. The TL glow curves of phosphors irradiated with UV (254 nm) show intense main TL glow peaks at 288 °C for Dy3+ doped sample and at 198, 283 °C for Tb3+ doped sample.