Transparent La2−xGdxZr2O7 ceramics obtained by combustion method and vacuum sintering

Effect of Gd Content on Luminescence Properties of Eu3+‐Doped La2−xGdxZr2O7 Transparent Ceramics

“…As the ionic radius of Gd 3+ is smaller than that of La 3+ , the substitution of La 3+ by Gd 3+ shortens the oxygen‐metal bond, which leads to broader energy band ( E g ). Thus, the cut‐off edge shifted to UV region (λ = hc / E g ) . Compared with the Eu 3+ ‐doped annealed ceramics in this work, there was almost no change in the cut‐off edge (except for the x = 0 ceramic), demonstrating that the blue‐shift of cut‐off edge for the Eu 3+ ‐doped annealed ceramics had the same reason.…”

“…Cracks were observed for the x = 2.0 ceramic after the annealing process, and the similar result was also reported in our previous article. 17 As Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 lies at the critical point between defective fluorite structure and pyrochlore structure, and the order-disorder transition temperature of Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 from pyrochlore to defective fluorite structure is 1530°C or 1575°C, the x = 2.0 ceramic is unstable. 20,21 Phase transition might occur under the vacuum sintering process, which would create residual stress in the ceramics.…”

“…In our previous research, a new series of materials lanthanum gadolinium zirconates (La 2Àx Gd x Zr 2 O 7 , x = 0-2.0) transparent ceramics were fabricated. 17 Due to their high transparency, relatively high density and effective atomic number, they are promising scintillator host candidates. Thus, in this work, rare-earth ions were doped to achieve scintillation luminescence.…”

“…Thus, in this work, rare-earth ions were doped to achieve scintillation luminescence. It was found that the energy band gap of the ceramics can be tuned by changing the doping concentration of Gd 3+ ions, 17 thus, the luminescence properties could also be tuned. Ce 3+ is the most common trivalent lanthanide activator for fast and bright scintillation.…”

Recent development of A2B2O7 system transparent ceramics

“…Their mainly potential applications are scintillator hosts as most of them have high density and effective atomic number, which would gain higher X-ray or γ-ray stopping power. Then, many transparent ceramics with the composition of A 2 B 2 O 7 were fabricated in recent years, such as La 2 Hf 2 O 7 [41,42], La 2-x Gd x Hf 2 O 7 [43,44], La 2 Zr 2 O 7 [45], Nd 2 Zr 2 O 7 [46], La 2-x Gd x Zr 2 O 7 [47,48], La 2-x Lu x Zr 2 O 7 [49], and Lu 2 Ti 2 O 7 [50]. Also, rare earth ion doped A 2 B 2 O 7 system transparent ceramics [42,[51][52][53][54] were fabricated to study their luminescent properties.…”