Abstract
The present study describes cathodoluminescence (CL) properties of CaSnO3 phosphors doped with Eu3+, Tb3+ and Dy3+ synthesized by a solid-state method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns confirm that CaSnO3 sintered at 1200 degrees C exhibits orthorhombic structure. The evidence and rationale for two strong broad emission bands appeared at 360 and 780 nm for undoped CaSnO3 are presented. The CL measurements exhibit that the 4f-4f emissions from D-5(4) -> F-7(5) (490 nm), D-5(4) -> F-7(5) (544 nm), D-5(4) -> F-7(4) (586 nm) and D-5(4) -> F-7(3) (622 nm), assigned to possible transitions of Tb3+ ions are seen. The strongest one, observed at 544 nm, due to its probability of both magnetic and electric transitions make the sample emission green. Emissions at 480, 574, 662 and 755 nm were detected for the CaSnO3:Dy3+ and attributed to the transitions from the F-4(9/2) to various energy levels H-6(15/2), H-6(13/2), H-6(11/2) and H-6(9/2)+F-6(11/12) of Dy3+, respectively. CL spectra of Eu doped CaSnO3 reveal that there is a strong emission peak appeared at 615 am due to the electric dipole transition D-5(0) -> F-7(2) (red). Finally, our results show that the rare earth doped CaSnO3 have remarkable potential for applications as optical materials since it exhibits efficient and sharp emission due to rare earth ions. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.