Synthesis and luminescence in sol–gel auto-combustion-synthesized $$\hbox {CaSnO}_{3}{:}\hbox {Eu}^{3+}$$ CaSnO 3 : Eu 3 + phosphor

Abstract

Undoped and Eu-doped \(\hbox {CaSnO}_{3}\) nanopowders were prepared by a facile sol–gel auto-combustion method calcined at \(800{^{\circ }}\hbox {C}\) for 1 h. The samples are found to be well-crystallized pure orthorhombic \(\hbox {CaSnO}_{3}\) structure. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements indicated that the undoped sample exhibits a broad blue emission at about 420–440 nm, which can be recognized from an intrinsic centre or centres in \(\hbox {CaSnO}_{3}\). Eu-doped \(\hbox {CaSnO}_{3}\) showed broad blue emission centred about 434 nm, a weak peak at 465 nm and a sharp intense yellow emission line at 592 nm. The emission situated at 592 nm was assigned to the f–f transition of \(^{5}\hbox {D}_{0}\rightarrow ^{7}\hbox {F}_{1}\) in \(\hbox {Eu}^{3+}\) ions. The afterglow emission and PL decay results in Eu-doped \(\hbox {CaSnO}_{3}\) phosphor, which revealed that there are at least two different traps in this phosphor. From the obtained results, \(\hbox {Eu}^{3+}\)-doped \(\hbox {CaSnO}_{3}\) phosphor could be proposed as a potential white luminescent optical material.