The site-selective excitation and the dynamical electron-lattice interaction on the luminescence of YBO3: Sb3+

Abstract

The phosphor of YBO3: Sb3+ was synthesized by solid state reaction. Its crystal structure was examined by using X-ray diffraction analysis. The morphology and particle size were characterized with a scanning electron microscopy. The properties of YBO3: Sb3+ luminescence was systematically studied by exciting borate host, the P-1(1) and P-3(1) levels of Sb3+ at the C-i and C-1 sites with 168, 203, 218, 252 and 262 nm, respectively, measured on the synchrotron radiation instruments. The different configurations of emission spectra excited with variant wavelengths show the character of wavelength-selective excitation, which was attributed to different occupations of the Sb3+ site in the YBO3 crystal lattice. Moreover, strong electron-lattice interaction (i.e., the Jahn-Teller effect) between Sb3+ and YBO3 host was discriminated by comparing low temperature and room temperature spectra. The site-selective luminescence was confirmed by YBO3 activated with multiple Sb3+ concentrations. The spectral assignment was verified with fluorescence lifetime achieved by using the Time-Correlated Single-Photon Counting method. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.