Luminescent properties and quenching effects of Pr3+ co-doping in SiO2:Tb3+/Eu3+ nanophosphors

Abstract Luminescence properties of Pr 3+ single doped SiO 2 and Pr 3+ co-doped SiO 2 :Tb 3+ /Eu 3+ nanophosphors synthesized using sol–gel method were investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to study the phase structure and particle morphology, respectively. The photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) properties of SiO 2 :Pr 3+ and Pr 3+ co-doped SiO 2 :Tb 3+ /Eu 3+ were investigated. The concentration quenching effects at high concentrations of Pr 3+ were observed from both PL and CL data. The PL and CL intensities from SiO 2 :Eu 3+ /Tb 3+ nanophosphors were shown to decrease significantly with Pr 3+ co-doping and the possible causes for the decrease are discussed Fluorescence lifetimes of the 1 D 2 emitting level of Pr 3+ were determined from luminescence decay curves of SiO 2 :Pr 3+ at different Pr 3+ concentrations.