The VUV-vis spectroscopic properties of Gd 3+ in Na(Y,Gd)FPO 4 are reported. The photon cascade emission was observed under 8 S 7/2 f 6 G J excitation in which 6 G J f 6 P J , 6 I J emissions of Gd 3+ in the orange/red and near-IR range are followed by ultraviolet emission of 6 P J f 8 S 7/2 transitions. We demonstrate systematically the emission decays and concentration-quenching characteristics of 6 G J f 6 P J and 6 P J f 8 S 7/2 transitions under excitation into 6 G J levels. The effect of temperature on the 6 G J f 6 P J emissions is also presented.
IntroductionPhosphors for excitation in the VUV (vacuum ultraviolet, wavelength λ < 200 nm, energy E > 50 000 cm -1 ) region are required for application in Hg-free fluorescent tubes and plasma display panels (PDPs). Development of VUV phosphors, especially excitation upon 147 and 172 nm (xenon discharge emission wavelength), has become an important challenge in the field of luminescent materials. There is a higher nonradiative relaxation energy loss (65% loss for a 172 nm photon), 1 which is involved in conversion of a photon with higher energy in the vacuum ultraviolet range to a photon with lower energy in the visible region. In order to improve the energy efficiency, the most feasible approach is by quantum cutting or photon cascade emission (PCE), 2,3 that is, the phosphor absorbs one vacuum ultraviolet photon and emits two or more visible photons.Early in 1957 the possibility for PCE was discussed by Dexter. 4 Since the 1970s the PCE process was first demonstrated by Pr 3+ in fluorides 5,6 and then in borates and other oxides. [7][8][9] Recently, the photon cascade emission of Gd 3+ was also observed in LiYF 4 10 and GdBaB 9 O 16 11 when Gd 3+ was excited to 6 G J states. More important, the quantum cutting can also be achieved using a combination of two lanthanide ions, for example, Gd 3+ -Eu 3+ or Gd 3+ -Nd 3+ /Tm 3+ in fluorides, and the high-lying energy levels 6 G J of Gd 3+ play a key role in these quantum cutting processes. 2,12 Fluorides usually show lower effective phonon frequencies, but they also have a crucial shortcoming. That is, they have no efficient absorption around 147/172 nm. Oxides are maybe better matrices than fluorides for VUV phosphors because of their easy preparation, better physical and chemical stability, and higher VUV absorption efficiency, but their higher phonon frequency usually causes higher nonradiative relaxation energy loss. Therefore, Na(Y,Gd)FPO 4 is selected as the host, which is expected to combine the good qualities of fluorides and oxides. This paper will focus on the photon cascade emission of Gd 3+ in Na(Y,Gd) FPO 4 . NaYFPO 4 13 is crystallized in the monoclinic system (space group C 2/m ) with unit cell parameters a ) 8.944(2) Å, b )