Studies on photoluminescence and thermoluminescence properties of yttrium aluminium perovskite (YAP-YAlO3) doped with cerium(III)

The present article reports the synthesis of yttrium aluminium perovskite (YAP-YAlO3) doped with 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0 and 3.5 mol% of cerium(III) (Ce3+) using a high-temperature solid-state reaction technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of the sample with 3.0 mol% concentrations Ce3+ was observed which was matched significantly with crystallographic open database card (COD-96-100-8924) already reported for YAlO3 with hexagonal structure and space group P 63/m m c (194). Photoluminescence (PL) emission spectra of the samples prepared were recorded at 356 nm, which exhibited a prominent emission peak centred at 468 nm. This peak was attributed to 5d ((2)A(1g))-> F-2(5/2, 7/2) transition in Ce3+. This emission results in blue-coloured emission which was confirmed using colour chromaticity (CIE) diagram. The thermoluminescence glow curve of the sample that provided the optimum PL intensity was recorded for various UV exposure times. The activation energy was found as 1.01 eV and 0.90 eV for the two de-convoluted peaks, respectively, and the frequency factor was 2.25 x10(10) and 1.66 x10(07) per second for respective peaks. The higher values of the frequency factor indicated that the phosphor material under discussion may be a good candidate for LED application. This work may provide a prominent phosphor candidate, useful in LED and thermoluminescence dosimetry application also. [GRAPHICS] .