Microwave synthesis of Eu3+ ion doped phosphor in glass: A novel scintillation material with luminescence enhancement

Abstract

The Gd<inf>2</inf>MoO<inf>6</inf>:Eu³⁺ phosphor-in TeO<inf>2</inf>: ZnO: BaO glass by microwave synthesized technique at different weights of phosphors (0.00, 2.50, 5.00, 7.50 and 10 wt%). The prepared samples were characterized through XRD, SEM, Raman, density, refractive index, absorption spectra, photoluminescence properties, and X-ray-induced luminescence. Crystalline structure was studied and compared with the Gd<inf>2</inf>MoO<inf>6</inf> standard by using a Shimadzu XRD-6100 diffractometer. Absorption spectra were evaluated in the wavelength region between 400 and 2300 nm and found four peaks, which corresponded with the transitions of Eu³⁺ ion from ⁷F<inf>0</inf> (ground state) → ⁵D<inf>2</inf>, ⁵D<inf>1</inf>, ⁷F<inf>6</inf> and ⁷F<inf>1</inf>→⁷F<inf>6</inf> at 464, 534, 2088 and 2203 nm respectively. Photoluminescence was recorded in the wavelength region of 550–725 nm using an excitation wavelength of 395 nm. The emission intensity of the prepared samples increased with the increasing weight of Gd<inf>2</inf>MoO<inf>6</inf>:Eu³⁺ phosphor. The Photoluminescence quantum yield of the highest intensity sample is 9.34 %. The luminescence lifetime from the ⁷F<inf>0</inf> → ⁵D<inf>2</inf> state decreased with increasing weight of phosphors, which had a lifetime of 0.993, 0.987, 0.998, and 0.981 ms respectively when monitored at λ<inf>ex</inf> = 395 nm. In addition, the X-ray-induced luminescence study showed that the intensity of the sample increases with increasing phosphor concentration. The results obtained in X-ray-induced luminescence found that the samples could be potential candidates for reddish-orange light-emitting for scintillation applications.