Red light emitting cubic Y1.95Eu0.05O3 nanophosphors have been synthesized by a low temperature
solution combustion method using ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid
(EDTA) as fuel. The systematic studies on the effect of calcination
temperature on its structural, photoluminescence (PL), and thermoluminescence
(TL) properties were reported. The crystallinity of the samples increases,
and the strain is reduced with increasing calcination temperature.
SEM micrographs reveal that samples lose their porous nature with
an increase in calcination temperature. PL spectra show that the intensity
of the red emission (611 nm) is highly dependent on the calcination
temperature and is found to be 10 times higher when compared to as-formed
samples. The optical band gap (E
g) was
found to reduce with an increase of calcination temperature due to
reduction of surface defects. The thermoluminescence (TL) intensity
was found to be much enhanced in the 1000 °C calcined sample.
The increase of PL and TL intensity with calcination temperature is
attributed to the decrease of the nonradiative recombination probability,
which occurs through the elimination of quenching defects. The trap
parameters (E, b, s) were estimated from Chen’s glow peak shape method and are
discussed in detail for their possible usage in dosimetry.