Enhancement of the photoluminescence and long afterglow properties of Sr2MgSi2O7:Eu(2+) phosphor by Dy(3+) co-doping

Abstract

Sr2MgSi2O7:Eu(2+) and Sr2MgSi2O7:Eu(2+),Dy(3+) long afterglow phosphors were synthesized under a weak reducing atmosphere by the traditional high temperature solid state reaction method. The synthesized phosphors were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and photo-, thermo- and mechanoluminescence spectroscopic techniques. The phase structure of the sintered phosphor was an akermanite type structure, which belongs to tetragonal crystallography. The thermoluminescence properties of these phosphors were investigated and compared. Under ultraviolet light excitation, the emission spectra of both prepared phosphors were composed of a broad emission band peaking at 470 nm. When the Sr2MgSi2O7:Eu(2+) phosphor was co-doped with Dy(3+), the photoluminescence (PL), afterglow and mechanoluminescence (ML) intensity were strongly enhanced. The decay graph indicated that both the sintered phosphors contained fast decay and slow decay processes. The ML intensities of Sr2MgSi2O7:Eu(2+) and Sr2MgSi2O7:Eu(2+),Dy(3+) phosphors were increased proportionally with increasing impact velocity, a finding that suggests that these phosphors could be used as sensors to detect the stress of an object.

Keywords: long afterglow phosphors; mechanoluminescence; photoluminescence; thermoluminescence.