Luminescent and structural properties of Dy3+-doped AZrO(3) (A = Ca, Sr, and Ba) series

Abstract

We investigated the photoluminescence and crystal structures of a Dy3+-doped AZrO(3) (AZrO(3):Dy) perovskite series, where A = Ca, Sr, and Ba. The change in the global symmetry of the A ion and the local structural changes caused by Dy3+ doping were investigated using Rietveld refinement of the X-ray diffraction patterns of AZrO(3):Dy. Under ultraviolet photoexcitation the samples showed two typical blue and yellow emission peaks resulting from f to f transitions of Dy3+ ions. The emission intensities depended strongly on the symmetry of the host material, i.e., the emission intensity was strongest in CaZrO3 with the lowest lattice symmetry among AZrO(3). The yellow-to-blue intensity ratio estimated from the emission profile of Dy3+ was found to be closely related to the local lattice distortion. Our results showed that the luminescent properties of AZrO(3):Dy were sensitive to the structural changes related to the A ion species and to Dy3+ ion doping.