Low Temperature Luminescence Properties of Tm3+ Doped Aluminate Phosphor

(Ba0.66Sr0.33)Mg0.8Al11.47O19: Tm0.013+ (BSMA:Tm3+) phosphor was synthesized by solid-state reactions. The sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscope (SEM), vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) spectra, ultraviolet (UV) spectra and FT-IR spectrum. XRD pattern reveals that BSMA:Tm3+ has the same structure as BaAl12O19 phase. SEM image illustrates that the phosphor has the hexagonal shape and deep slice structure. VUV and UV emission spectra at 20, 50 and 100 K show that the low temperature luminescence intensities become weak gradually with the increasing of the temperature under 147 and 254 nm excitation. The strong broadband peaks at around 357 and 397 nm and the peak at 516 nm under 147 nm excitation all correspond to the characteristic transitions of Tm3+ ions. However, under UV (254 nm) excitation, the main peak becomes 530 nm which has very high line intensity, and the peaks at about 362 and 403 nm are very weak. The excitation spectrum at 20 K shows that there are three absorption peaks at around 153, 186 and 193 nm when 516 nm emission is monitored. The absorption peaks of [AlO4], [AlO6] and Al-O can be observed in FT-IR spectrum.