Spectroscopic properties of sintered BaMgA110O17:Eu2+ (BAM) translucent pellets. Comparison to the commercial powder [for Martian UV-dosimeter]

Efforts to obtain translucent pellets of BAM for Martian UV-dosimeter were undertaken. Sinterability of both commercial BAM powder and a Pechini-derived one was examined. The commercial phosphor sinters with difficulty only, while the one made with Pechini procedure sinters easily and translucent pellets could be obtained in such a way. Vacuum sintering at 1750 deg C for 15 h was also enough to fully convert Eu3 into Eu2 in the sintered pellets without the necessity of using hydrogen-containing gas. The spectroscopy of the sintered BAM differs noticeably from its commercial powdered counterpart. The excitation is much more flat in the entire UV and especially strong enhancement of the excitation efficiency is observed in the near-Vis part of the UV region. Decay kinetics is exactly the same for commercial powder and sintered ceramic, which proves the lack of luminescence quenching in the latter. The sintered pellets of BAM made in our laboratory show mechanical and spectral characteristics, which make the material suitable for Martian UV-dosimeter.