Self-activated afterglow luminescence of un-doped Ca2ZrSi4O12 material and explorations of new afterglow phosphors in a rare earth element-doped Ca2ZrSi4O12 system

• Self-activated green afterglow is first observed in non-doped Ca2ZrSi4O12.
• Thermoluminescence related to traps in Ca2ZrSi4O12 are studied and calculated.
• Contributions of the traps with different depths on afterglow are revealed.
• Afterglow luminescence of rare earth doped Ca2ZrSi4O12 is also investigated.

Un-doped Ca2ZrSi4O12 material is prepared using a solid state reaction and it emits intense green afterglow luminescence peaking at 490 nm. The afterglow luminescence can be recorded for about 4800 s (0.32 mcd m−2). The thermoluminescence revealed that at least four types of traps existed in the Ca2ZrSi4O12 material and the depths of these traps were calculated. The contributions of these traps on the afterglow luminescence were also investigated in detail. Accordingly, a possible afterglow mechanism of Ca2ZrSi4O12 was proposed. Moreover, Ca2ZrSi4O12 was also doped by rare earth or metal ions for developmental purpose and we arrived at some useful conclusions according to the experimental results.