Strontium thiogallate (SrGa2S4) thin films have been prepared by rf reactive magnetron sputtering. This sulfur matrix permits the acceleration of charge carriers to optical energies under high electric field and provides green electroluminescence when doped with europium. The color coordinates are better than those achieved by other known green thin film electroluminescent phosphors. Strontium thiogallates as other ternary IIA-III2-(S,Se)4 compounds doped with Eu2+ or Ce3+ are good candidates for thin film electroluminescence phosphors of full color displays.

Luminescent properties of Eu'+ or Ce3+ doped Sffia~S4 powder samples are investigated over the temperature range 30 to 300 K. Up to 300 K the lifetime remains constant (TO = 480 and 24 ns for Eu '+ and Ce3+, respectively) showing that the probability of non-radiative transitions is negligible at room temperature. The decay of thin films prepared by reactive radio-frequency magnetron sputtering deviates strongly from an exponential one as a consequence of energy transfer to defects. Codoping of Ce3' with Na+ considerably increases the luminescence efficiency.Les proprittts luminescentes de poudres de SrGazS4 doptes au Eu2+ et au Ce3+ sont ttudites pour des temptratures variant de 30 h 300 K. Jusqu'h 300 K, les durkes de vie restent invariantes (zo = 480 et 24 ns pour Eu2+ et Ce3+ respectivement). Ceci montre que les probabilitts de transitions non-radiatives sont ntgligeables h la tempkrature ambiante. Le dtclin de couches minces prtpartes par pulvtrisation cathodique radio-frtquence est beaucoup plus rapide et montre la prbsence d'un transfert d'tnergie vers des dtfauts. Le codopage de SrGazS4 : Ce3+ avec du Na+ ambliore fortment le rendement de luminescence.