Luminescence properties of Ce3+ and Tb3+ co-activated ZnAl2O4 phosphor

In this study, a solution combustion method was used to prepare green emitting Ce3+–Tb3+ co-activated ZnAl2O4 phosphor. The samples were annealed at 700 °C in air or hydrogen atmosphere to improve their crystallinity and optical properties. X-ray diffraction study confirmed that both as-prepared and post-preparation annealed samples crystallized in the well known cubic spinel structure of ZnAl2O4. An agglomeration of irregular platelet-like particles whose surfaces were encrusted with smaller spheroidal particles was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The fluorescence data collected from the annealed samples with different concentrations of Ce3+ and Tb3+ show the enhanced green emission at 543 nm associated with 5D4→7F5 transitions of Tb3+. The enhancement was attributed to energy transfer from Ce3+ to Tb3+. Possible mechanism of energy transfer via a down conversion process is discussed. Furthermore, cathodoluminescence (CL) intensity degradation of this phosphor was also investigated and the degradation data suggest that the material was chemically stable and the CL intensity was also stable after 10 h of irradiation by a beam of high energy electrons.