Investigation of UV-emitting Gd(3+)-doped LiCaBO3 phosphor

Incorporating the Gd(3+) rare earth ion in the LiCaBO3 host lattice resulted in narrow-band UV-B emission peaking at 315 nm, with excitation at 274 nm. The LiCaBO3:Gd(3+) phosphor was synthesized via the solid-state diffusion method. The structural, morphological and luminescence properties of this phosphor were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) characterization of the as-prepared phosphors is also reported here. XRD studies confirmed the crystal formation and phase purity of the prepared phosphors. A series of different dopant concentrations was synthesized and the concentration-quenching effect was studied. Critical energy transfer distance between activator ions was determined and the mechanism governing the concentration quenching is also reported in this paper.