Photoluminescence and thermoluminescence properties of Tb{sup 3+} doped K{sub 3}Gd(PO{sub 4}){sub 2} nanophosphor

Energy level diagram of Tb{sup 3+} ion in the K{sub 3}Gd(PO{sub 4}){sub 2} host lattice. - Highlights: • First time, a detailed TL and PL study on undoped and Tb{sup 3+} doped K{sub 3}Gd(PO{sub 4}){sub 2} nanophosphor. • Combustion method was employed to synthesize the Tb{sup 3+} doped K{sub 3}Gd(PO{sub 4}){sub 2} nanophosphor. • Mechanism of excitation and emission in undoped and Tb{sup 3+} doped K{sub 3}Gd(PO{sub 4}){sub 2} nanophosphor was given. - Abstract: Tb{sup 3+} doped nanoparticulate K{sub 3}Gd(PO{sub 4}){sub 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{sub 3}Gd(PO{sub 4}){sub 2}, the excitation and emission peaks at 273 nm and 323 nm belongs to the {sup 8}S{sub 7/2} → {sup 6}I{sub J(J=7/2)} and {sup 6}P{sub J(J=7/2)} → {sup 8} S{sub 7/2} transitions of Gd{sup 3+} while green emission was observed in the Tb{sup 3+} doped K{sub 3}Gd(PO{sub 4}){sub 2}. TL study was carried out after exposing the samples to γ-radiations (0.1–5 kGy) in the K{sub 3}Gd(PO{sub 4}){sub 2}:Tb{sup 3+} (1.5 mol%). Themore » 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{sup 3+} ion with the CIE coordinates (x, y) as (0.29, 0.54) was in good agreement with the well known green phosphors.« less