Temperature dependence features of the photoluminescence spectral distribution of Li2B4O7 and Li2B4O7:Cu

The temperature dependence of the photoluminescence (PhL) spectral distributions has been reported for the lithium tetraborate Li2B4O7 (LTB) and Li2B4O7:Cu (LTB:Cu) single crystals and for glassy LTB:Cu. It was found that the emission peaks of the LTB and LTB:Cu single crystals are non-elementary and splittable by temperature increase into several elementary peaks. By the sample heating the temperature quenching of PhL as well as the redistribution of the PhL intensity among elementary peaks was observed. Heating of the LTB:Cu single crystal samples caused no shift of the spectral maxima of the individual PhL peaks. The curve describing the temperature dependency of individual PhL peaks for the LTB:Cu single crystal is characterized by maxima resulting from combination of PhL and thermostimulated luminescence (TSL). The PhL intensity for glassy LTB:Cu is significantly lower than that for LTB:Cu single crystal with the equivalent copper dopant content. As compared to the LTB:Cu single crystal, the PhL spectral maximum for glassy LTB:Cu is wider and shifted to the lower energy range. Heating of the glassy LTB:Cu sample results in the PhL temperature quenching without any shift of the spectral maximum.