Photoluminescence and thermoluminescence properties of Tb3+ doped K3Gd(PO4)2 nanophosphor

Abstract Tb 3+ doped nanoparticulate K 3 Gd(PO 4 ) 2 phosphor was prepared by combustion method using urea as a fuel. The structure, optical and luminescent properties of the phosphor were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), and thermoluminescence (TL) spectroscopy. In undoped K 3 Gd(PO 4 ) 2 , the excitation and emission peaks at 273 nm and 323 nm belongs to the 8 S 7/2  →  6 I J ( J  = 7/2) and 6 P J ( J  = 7/2)  →  8  S 7/2 transitions of Gd 3+ while green emission was observed in the Tb 3+ doped K 3 Gd(PO 4 ) 2 . TL study was carried out after exposing the samples to γ-radiations (0.1–5 kGy) in the K 3 Gd(PO 4 ) 2 :Tb 3+ (1.5 mol%). The calculated kinetic parameters were compared with different methods. The band gap of the phosphor was estimated as 5.80 eV. The green shade of the Tb 3+ ion with the CIE coordinates ( x , y ) as (0.29, 0.54) was in good agreement with the well known green phosphors.