The synthesis and afterglow luminescence properties of a novel red afterglow phosphor: ZrO2:Sm3+,Sn4+

A novel ZrO2:Sm3+,Sn4+ phosphor is synthesized by solid state reaction. The ZrO2:Sm3+ does not show afterglow. But, after doping Sn4+, intense red afterglow luminescence is firstly observed in ZrO2:Sm3+,Sn4+ and it can last more than 1000 s at maximum. The afterglow decay curves of ZrO2:Sm3+,Sn4+ are fitted by three exponential components and the decay process consists of initial fast, intermediate and slow decay. The thermoluminescence indicates that the Sn4+ ions induce suitable traps with the depth of 0.436 eV and result in efficient afterglow luminescence of ZrO2:Sm3+,Sn4+. The thermoluminescence filling and fading experiments further confirm the important role of the proper shallow traps induced by doping Sn4+ on the afterglow of ZrO2:Sm3+,Sn4+.