Photoluminescence of Ca(AlxGa1–x)2S4:Eu2+ compounds

Abstract

Photoluminescence (PL) observed in solid solutions of Ca(Al_xGa_1–x)₂S₄:Eu²⁺ (x = 0.1–0.3) is studied. It is shown that the increase in emission intensity by 18% is caused by changes in the x values and electronic 5d → 4 f transitions in Eu²⁺ ions. A change in the position of the emission spectrum or its partial shift toward shorter wavelengths is due to an increase in the aluminum concentration and a decrease in the crystal field energy. The energy of the zero phonon line E₀, redshift D, and the Stokes shift ΔS are determined. A decrease in the photoluminescence intensity maximum and an increase in the half-width of the spectrum are found in the temperature range of 10–300 K. The efficiency of emission at temperatures of 20 and 300 K is almost independent of the excitation power density of up to ~10⁴ W/cm². The luminescence lifetime of Eu²⁺ ions was 383, 357, 346, and 333 ns for x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3, respectively.