Effect of different type of dopants on the enhancement of KCl single crystal optical properties

Abstract

As the most attractive phosphors, the enhancement of the optical properties of single crystalline alkali halides such as KCl using different types of dopants was approached. Pure and doped KCl single crystals were grown using Czochralski method. Different activators such as Ag, In, Mn, and Sn ions were employed to enhance the optical properties of grown KCl single crystals. The structure of the single crystalline samples was investigated through X-ray diffraction (XRD). The optical properties of the samples were studied by employing UV–vis spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) analysis and ion beam-induced luminescence (IBIL), to confirm the incorporation of dopants into the host lattice. In the PL spectra of the samples, two UV and near UV emission lines and one red emission line were detected in the PL spectrum of the pure sample at 357 nm, 420 nm and 697 nm respectively that have not been reported before. Dopants led to the change in the intensity and position of the peaks. The peaks at 420 nm and 697 nm in the doped samples were shifted towards shorter wavelengths and a 500 nm emission was emerged due to impurities. The IBIL analysis proposed the violet color center for the Sn and Mn doped samples. These peaks turn the KCl single crystals into attractive phosphors.