Eu(2+) luminescence in strontium aluminates.

The luminescence properties of Eu(2+) doped strontium aluminates are reported and reviewed for a variety of aluminates, viz. SrAl12O19, SrAl4O7, Sr4Al14O25, SrAl2O4 and Sr3Al2O6. The aim of the research is to investigate the role of local coordination and covalency of the aluminate host lattice, related to the Sr/Al ratio, on the optical properties of the Eu(2+) ion. The UV and VUV excited luminescence spectra as well as luminescence decay curves were recorded to characterize the luminescence properties of the investigated aluminates. The emission of Eu(2+) ions varies over a wide spectral range, from ultraviolet (UV) to red, for the series of aluminates. The variation in emission color can be related to the crystal-field splitting of the 5d levels and the covalent interaction with the surrounding oxygen anions. In the least covalent material, viz. SrAl12O19:Eu(2+), narrow line emission due to the (6)P7/2-(8)S7/2 transition occurs at 4 K, indicating that the 4f(6)5d excited state is situated above the (6)P7/2(4f(7)) excited state around 360 nm. The most alkaline material, viz. Sr3Al2O6:Eu(2+) is the most covalent host and exhibits several d-f emission bands in the yellow to red spectral range due to the Eu(2+) ions located on different crystallographic Sr(2+) sites. The Eu(2+) emission spectra in the other aluminates confirm the trend that with increasing Sr/Al ratio the Eu(2+) emission shifts to longer wavelengths. Interesting differences are observed for the Eu(2+) from different crystallographic sites which cannot always be related with apparent differences in the first oxygen coordination sphere. The discussion gives insight into how in a similar class of materials, strontium aluminates, the emission color of Eu(2+) can be tuned over a wide spectral region.

Structural and luminescence studies of the new nitridomagnesoaluminate CaMg2AlN3.

CaMg(2)AlN(3) was synthesized in a closed system by solid state reaction from binary nitrides. Structure refinements based on powder X-ray diffraction data suggested ambiguity about the occupancy of magnesium and aluminum tetrahedral sites. Solid-state (27)Al and (25)Mg NMR studies were used to adjudicate amongst possible space groups. With reference to projector augmented wave calculations of the quadrupolar coupling constants, the measured values of CQ and the numbers of crystallographically inequivalent Al and Mg sites indicate that CaMg(2)AlN(3) crystallizes in the space group P6(3)/mmc with partial occupancy of the distorted tetrahedral Al site and possibly also mixing of Mg(2+) and Al(3+) ions on opposite sites. The compound obtained by synthesis with a flux shows orange defect-related luminescence at room temperature.