Luminescence Studies of Eu 3+ Doped BaGd 2 O 4 Phosphor

Abstract

The spectroscopic properties of BaGd 2-x O 4 :Eu x (x = 0.0 - 0.1) phosphors were investigated. The phosphors were synthesized by conventional solid state reaction method. The samples were characterized by powder-XRD and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) techniques. The photoluminescence (PL) and thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) studies of these materials were investigated. For PL studies the samples were excited with 258 nm UV light. All the samples showed strong red emission at 611 nm due to 5 D 0 → 7 F 2 electric dipole transition of Eu 3+ ions. PL peak intensity was found to increase with increase in the dopant concentration. For TSL studies, samples were γ-irradiated with different dose rates using 60 Co source. TSL of these phosphors showed a sharp glow peak with maxima at 394 K. Incorporation of europium activator in BaGd 2 O 4 phosphor resulted in the increase of peak intensity. The trap parameters viz., order of kinetics (b), activation energy (E) and frequency factor (S) associated with the most intensive glow peak of BaGd 2 O 4 :Eu 3+ phosphor were determined using glow curve shape (Chen's) method. These phosphors can be useful in TL dosimetry.