Luminescence and energy transfer in K3GdF6:Pr3+

Single phase, polycrystalline K3GdF6 compound containing 1 at.% of Pr3+ was prepared and its luminescent properties were investigated in the 10–300 K temperature region. The temperature weakly influences the 3P0 emission, whereas the 1D2 emission decreases from 520 μs at 10 K to 219 μs at 290 K due to temperature dependent self-quenching effect. Excitation spectra provide evidence that the energy is transferred from the 5d levels of Pr3+ to the energy levels belonging to the 4f7 configuration of Gd3+.