Sensitized luminescence from sol–gel-derived SrAl2O4 co-doped with Cu2+ and Dy3+

Sol–gel-derived SrAl2O4 co-doped with Cu2+ and Dy3+ was prepared at high temperature in a weakly oxidizing atmosphere. A broad, strong excitation band was observed in the excitation spectrum of the co-doped sample. The emission spectrum of the doped sample indicated that all the emission peaks are sharp emission bands due to f–f transitions of Dy3+. The excitation and emission spectra of the CuDy:SrAl2O4 sample are almost the same as those of the Dy:SrAl2O4 sample. However, the photoluminescence intensity of the co-doped sample is dramatically increased as compared with that of the Dy3+-doped sample because of the sensitized transfer from Cu2+ to Dy3+ ions in SrAl2O4.