LiYF_4 nanocrystals with tetragonal structure were adopted as the host materials for the phosphors and scintillators owing to the low phonon energy and high optical transparency. LiYF_4:Ln^(3+)(Ce^(3+),Eu^(3+)) nanocrystals were fabricated by solvothermal method. Under UV excitation, they could emit visible light. In order to improve the luminescence intensity, the method of co-doping LiYF_4 nanocrystals with Sc was adopted. Sc^(3+) ions could reduce the lattice expansion caused by the doping of Ce^(3+) or Eu^(3+) whose ionic radius was larger than Y^(3+). Crystal structure of Li(Y,Sc)F_4:Ln^(3+) kept much more stable and the luminescence intensity could be significantly enhanced when the concentration of Sc was a moderate value. Thermoluminescence was employed to analyze the electron traps in Li(Y,Sc)F_4:Ce^(3+). Results suggested that the suppression of the generation of electron traps with the co-doping of Sc contributed to the enhancement of luminescence intensity of LiYF_4:Ce^(3+).
Single crystal of Lu2Si2O7:Pr was grown by Czochralski method. Transmittance, photoluminescence excitation (PLE) and photo-luminescence (PL) spectra, X-ray excited luminescence (XEL) and fluorescence decay time spectra of the sample were measured and discussed to investigate its optical characteristics. The crystal structure of the as grown Lu2Si2O7:Pr was confirmed to be C2/m. There was a broad absorption peaking at 245 nm in the region from 200-260 nm. The PL spectrum was dominated by fast 3PJ→3HJ band peaking at 524 nm. The XEL spectrum was dominated by the fast 5d14f1→4f2 emission peaking at 265 nm. The 2D (temperature-intensity) and 3D (temperature-wavelength-intensity) thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) spectra were measured. The Pr3+ ion was found to be the recombination center during the TSL process. Three obvious traps were detected in LPS:Pr single crystal with energy depth at 1.06, 0.78 and 0.67 eV.
