Cathodoluminescence degradation of SiO2:Ce,Tb powder phosphors prepared by a sol-gel process

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Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy, and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to study the CL intensity degradation of SiO2:Cb,Tb powder phosphors prepared by a sol-gel process. The AES and the CL data were collected simultaneously when the powders were bombarded for 10h with a beam of electrons of current density of 54mA∕cm2, accelerated by 2kV in a vacuum chamber containing either 1×10−8 or 1×10−7Torr O2. A decrease of CL intensity was simultaneous with desorption of oxygen (O) from the surface, i.e., there is a correlation between the degradation of CL intensity and desorption of O. The AES and the XPS data suggest that a nonluminescent oxygen-deficient layer of SiOx (x<2) that could decrease the CL intensity was formed on the surface. Mechanisms by which oxygen desorption leads to a reduction of the CL intensity are discussed.