Development and Performance Test of Deep Ultraviolet–Visible Photoacoustic Spectroscopy System for Nonradiative Deactivation Characterization in Phosphor Materials

We developed a deep-ultraviolet–visible photoacoustic spectroscopy system for the evaluation of nonradiative deactivation in phosphor materials. The system consists of a Xenon arc lamp of 300 W with an aspherical condensing mirror, a monochromator, a mechanical chopper to modulate the monochromatic light at a certain frequency of 10–100 Hz, and a single optical fiber. The acoustic signal from the sample was counted with an electret microphone connected to a preamplifier, a sound level meter unit, and a lock-in amplifier. 0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 mol% Ce-doped Y3Al5O12 crystalline samples were evaluated for the performance test. From the evaluation, an inverse correlation among fluorescence quantum efficiency, scintillation light yield, and photoacoustic signal intensity was experimentally confirmed.