Luminescence properties of Ba2NaNb5O15 crystals activated with Sm3+, Eu3+, Tb3+ or Dy3+ ions

Single crystals of Ba2NaNb5O15 (BNN) singly doped with Sm3+, Eu3+, Tb3+ or Dy3+ have been grown by means of the flux growth method. Their visible emission and excitation spectra and the decay profiles of the luminescence have been measured at room temperature. All spectral features are significantly inhomogeneously broadened in consequence of the structural disorder of the host and of the doping mechanisms. The analysis of the observed spectra allows formulating an hypothesis about the site occupancy of the active ions in the BNN lattice.