Pr3+ luminescence center in Lu2Si2O 7 host

Abstract

Pr3+-doped Lu2Si2O7 (LPS:Pr) microcrystalline phosphor was prepared by the sol-gel method. We study the LPS: Pr luminescence properties under UV and X-ray excitation within 80-500 K. The emission spectrum is dominated by fast 5d-4f band peaking at 261 nm having 16 ns decay time. By purely optical contactless methods we determine the energy barrier of 300 meV for thermal ionization of the Pr3+ 5d1 relaxed excited state in LPS host. The barrier is high enough to keep the room temperature quantum efficiency of the Pr3+ luminescence center close to unity. © 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.