Synthesis, characterization and luminescence of Sr3Al2O6 phosphor with trivalent rare earth dopant

The luminescent properties of Sr3Al2O6 doped and co-doped with the rare earths (Ln3+ = Eu3+, Dy3+, Eu3+ and Dy3+) have been studied. The material was synthesized by reflux method and fired up to 900 °C for 16 h. The X-ray diffraction pattern confirms that the synthesized material consists of Sr3Al2O6 as main phase. The photoluminescence study gives a clear evidence of europium stabilizing in trivalent form and surprisingly with no presence of europium in the divalent state. The addition of Dy3+ as co-dopant in the Sr3Al2O6:Eu3+ matrix shows the quenching effect in the photoluminescence (PL) spectra. The photoluminescence intensity of Eu3+ falls gradually on increasing the concentration of the co-dopant in the range from 0.1 mole% to 2.0 mole%. The significantly intense thermoluminescence (TL) glow peak was obtained for Sr3Al2O6:Eu3+, Dy3+ (1% and 0.1%) at around 194 °C when irradiated with 10 kGy dose from Sr-90 β source.