Strong red emission and enhanced electrical properties in Pr-doped SrBi4Ti4O15 multifunctional ceramics

Abstract

Pr3+-modified SrBi4Ti4O15 ceramics were prepared using a conventional solid-state reaction method. The modified ceramics simultaneously exhibited both visible photoluminescence and enhanced electrical properties. In visible light, ceramics exhibited a strong red emission peak at 610 nm corresponding to the inter-4f transition 1D2 → 3H4 due to the absence of inversion symmetry at Pr3+ sites. This red luminescence is greatly potential in various display devices. Meanwhile, samples modified by Pr3+ in x = 0.002 showed a large piezoelectric constant of 20pC/N and a remnant polarization of 22.78 μC/cm2, as well as a high Curie temperature value of 511 °C and excellent piezoelectric temperature stability. Moreover, the Pr3+-modified SrBi4Ti4O15 ceramics show a fatigue-free polarization behavior. All these advantages may expand the application fields of the materials as multifunctional devices by integrating their luminescent and piezoelectric properties.