Mechanoluminescence, thermoluminescence, photoluminescence studies on Ca 3 Y 2 Si 3 O 12 :RE 3+ (RE 3+ = Dy 3+ and Eu 3+ ) phosphors

Dy 3+ and Eu 3+ activated Ca 3 Y 2 Si 3 O 12 phosphors were synthesized by the solid‐state synthesis method. The phosphors were characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), mechanoluminescence (ML), thermoluminescence (TL) and photoluminescence (PL) to determine structure and luminescence. For ML glow curves, only one peak was observed, as only one type of luminescence centre was formed during irradiation. The Ca 3 Y 2 Si 3 O 12 :Dy 3+ TL glow curve showed a single peak at 151.55°C and the Ca 3 Y 2 Si 3 O 12 :Eu 3+ TL glow curve peaked at 323°C with a small peak at 192°C, indicating that two types of traps were activated. The trapping parameters for both the samples were calculated using Chen's peak shape method. Dy 3+ ‐activated Ca 3 Y 2 Si 3 O 12 showed emission at 482 and 574 nm when excited by a 351 nm excitation wavelength, whereas the Eu 3+ ‐activated Ca 3 Y 2 Si 3 O 12 phosphor PL emission spectra showed emission peaks at 613 nm, 591 nm, 580 nm when excited at 395 nm wavelength. When excited at 466 nm, prominent emission peaks were observed at their respective positions with very slight shifts. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.