Thermoluminescence and synchrotron radiation studies on the persistent luminescence of BaAl 2O 4:Eu 2+,Dy 3+

Abstract

The persistent luminescence materials, barium aluminates doped with Eu 2+ and Dy 3+ (BaAl 2O 4:Eu 2+,Dy 3+), were prepared with the combustion synthesis at temperatures between 400 and 600 °C as well as with the solid state reaction at 1500 °C. The concentrations of Eu 2+/Dy 3+ (in mol% of the Ba amount) ranged from 0.1/0.1 to 1.0/3.0. The electronic and defect energy level structures were studied with thermoluminescence (TL) and synchrotron radiation (SR) spectroscopies: UV–VUV excitation and emission, as well as with X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) methods. Theoretical calculations using the density functional theory (DFT) were carried out in order to compare with the experimental data.