Luminescent properties and quenching effects of Pr3+ co-doping in SiO2:Tb3+/Eu3+ nanophosphors

Abstract

Luminescence properties of Pr(sup3+) single doped SiO2 and Pr(sup3+) co-doped SiO(sub2):Tb(sup3+)/Eu(sup3+) nanophosphors synthesized using sol–gel method were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to study the phase structure and particle morphology, respectively. The photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) properties of SiO(sub2):Pr(sup3+) and Pr(sup3+) co-doped SiO(sub2):Tb(sup3+)/Eu(sup3+) were investigated. The concentration quenching effects at high concentrations of Pr(sup3+) were observed from both PL and CL data. The PL and CL intensities from SiO(sub2):Eu(sup3+)/Tb(sup3+) nanophosphors were shown to decrease significantly with Pr(sup3+) co-doping and the possible causes for the decrease are discussed Fluorescence lifetimes of the (sup1)D(sub2) emitting level of Pr(sup3+) were determined from luminescence decay curves of SiO(sub2):Pr(sup3+) at different Pr(sup3+) concentrations.