Luminescence of yttrium niobium-tantalate doubly activated by europium and/or terbium under X-ray and electron beam excitation

This paper reports the luminescence emission spectra of Y(Ta,Nb)O4 activated by rare earth ions such as Eu3+ and Tb3+. The influence of these rare earth ions on the luminescence of yttrium niobium-tantalate phosphors was investigated. The luminescent properties were studied under X-ray and electron beam excitations. Under these excitations, the emission centers of the rare earth activators (Eu3+,Tb3+) were found to contribute efficiently to the overall luminescence. Changing the mol concentration of the incorporated activators resulted in a broad variation of visible photoluminescence. Color cathodoluminescence images showed clearly the dependence of chromaticity on the different activators. With their various luminescence chromaticities, these rare earth activated phosphors are promising materials for solid-state lighting applications as well as for X-ray intensifying screens in medical diagnosis, providing a broad variation of visible photoluminescence from blue to red.