Photoluminescence of Eu single doped and Eu/Dy codoped Sr2Al2SiO7 phosphors with long persistence

This paper reports the preparation of long persistent Sr2Al2SiO7:Eu2+ and Sr2Al2SiO7:Eu2+, Dy3+ phosphors and the comparison of their photoluminescent properties. The silicate phosphors prepared by solid-state reaction routine showed a broad blue emission peaking at 484 nm when activated by UV illumination. Such a bluish-green emission can be attributed to the intrinsic 4f–5d transitions of Eu2+. After the UV source was switched off, long persistent phosphorescence could be observed by naked eyes for both samples in darkness. Afterglow measurements revealed that Eu/Dy codoped phosphor possesses better afterglow properties than the Eu single doped one, since the maximum lifetime (τmax=99 s) of the photons calculated from the decay profile is much larger than that of the Eu single doped phosphor (τmax=82 s). TSL results suggested that the difference in afterglow properties was caused by the difference in the electron traps within the crystal lattice. For Eu/Dy codoped phosphor, the doping of Dy ions produced electron traps with trap depth of 0.52 eV, which is suitable and therefore leads to good persistence. However, in the case of Eu single doped phosphor, the trap depth is 0.88 eV, which is really too deep an energy barrier to overcome, and therefore a poor persistence was observed in the experiment.