Optical and photoluminensce properties of Eu{sup 2+}-activated strontium magnesium silicate phosphors using different rare earth co-activators
Nanostructured powders of Sr{sub 1.96}MgSi{sub 2}O{sub 7}:Eu{sub 0.01}{sup 2+}, R{sub 0.01}{sup 3+} (R{sup 3+ }= Er{sup 3+}, Tm{sup 3+} and Tb{sup 3+}) have been fabricated via urea combustion technique. XRD results implied that tetragonal Sr{sub 2}MgSi{sub 2}O{sub 7} was the major phase whereas monoclinic Sr{sub 2}SiO{sub 4} and SrSiO{sub 3} were the minor phases. Meanwhile, field emission SEM textures showed the hollow spherical network-like shape structures filled with fused interconnections for the Sr{sub 1.96}MgSi{sub 2}O{sub 7}:Eu{sub 0.01}{sup 2+} sample. It has been recognized that the replacement of Sr{sup 2+} with co-dopant R{sup 3+} ions e.g. Er{sup 3+}, Tm{sup 3+} and Tb{sup 3+} considerably help obtaining homogeneous structure as well. The values of band gap energy and calculated refractive index were ultimately dependant on the ionic radius of R{sup 3+} co-doping ion. It has been suggested that the divalent activator ion (Eu{sup 2+}) was responsible for the number of PL emission spectra, while the trivalent co-activator ions (R{sup 3+}) were the key reasons for variations in the broadening and intensity of PL emission spectra.