Photoluminescence of micropowders of europium-doped cubic boron nitride

Micropowders of cubic boron nitride (cBN) doped with europium have been obtained by high-pressure synthesis. The photoluminescence (PL) of Eu3+ ions introduced into the crystal lattice of cBN has been investigated. It has been established from kinetic studies of the PL that the Eu3+ ions in cBN are located in two crystallographic positions with low symmetry of the crystal field. Annealing the cBN micropowders increases the number of crystallographic positions of Eu3+ in cBN to four, while electron irradiation causes the PL intensity of the Eu-3 ions to increase as a consequence of energy transport from the RC luminescent radiation centers. It has been established that, in an optoelectronic device, the UV electroluminescence of the InGaN/AlGaN/GaN heterostructure excites red PL of the Eu:cBN phosphor. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America.