Luminescence of some zirconium-containing compounds under vacuum ultraviolet excitation

Photoluminescence of compounds that contain stoichiometric zirconium has been studied under vacuum ultraviolet excitation. The compounds show emission peaking at 280-320 nm while the excitation spectra show some bands in 130-190 nm region. The ultraviolet emission is explained as Zr to O charge transfer transition. The luminescence result and structural information classify the studied compounds into two groups. The former group involves ZrP2O7, CaZr(PO4)2, NaZr2(PO4)3, Ca2ZrSi4O12, Ca3ZrSi2O9 and SrZrSi2O7, which show rather intense luminescence and do not have any infinite Zr-O-Zr-O-3D chain or link in their structure. The latter group is CaZrO3 and ZrSiO4, which do contain infinite Zr-O-Zr-O-3D chain and show quite weak luminescence. Luminescence of Ca1−xMnxZr(PO4)2 has also been studied. By replacing a part of Ca with Mn, ultraviolet emission of the host weakens and visible emission peaking at 540 nm appears. It is claimed that transfer of absorbed energy from Zr to Mn occurs.