Effects of Codoping on Site-Dependent Eu3+ Luminescence in Perovskite-Type Calcium Zirconate and Hafnate

Abstract

The single doping of Eu3+ and codoping with Ga3+ or La3+ into perovskite (ABO3)-type CaZrO3 and CaHfO3 were carried out to investigate the effect of codoping on the photoluminescence (PL) features of Eu3+, attempting the site-selective Eu3+ doping at either A or B sites. To comprehend the Eu3+ PL features, the accurate locations of Eu3+ were examined by X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and the proportions of Eu3+ located at A or B sites (Eu3+(A) or Eu3+(B); EuCa• or EuZr'/EuHf') were analyzed. No considerable differences in the XANES spectra and in the proportions of Eu3+(A) and Eu3+(B) were observed in the single-doped samples. On the other hand, the shape of the XANES spectra and the Eu3+ proportion markedly differed in the codoped samples. Ga3+ codoping (GaZr'/GaHf') achieved Eu3+(A) proportions of more than 90%, and La3+ codoping (LaCa•) resulted in the largest Eu3+(B) proportions of approximately 40%. In both PL and PL excitation spectra, the site-dependent spectral features were changed depending on the proportion of Eu3+(A) and Eu3+(B), especially the PL peaks at 595 nm were intensified most in the La3+ codoped samples. Consequently, the site-dependent Eu3+ PL features in CZO and CHO were found to become more conspicuous by the effect of Ga3+ or La3+ codoping. The results also revealed that the codoped ions work not only to compensate for the charge of aliovalent Eu3+ but also to drive Eu3+ to the intentional doping sites.