Thermoluminescence and photoluminescence studies on -ray-irradiated Ce3+,Tb3+-doped potassium chloride single crystals

Single crystals of KCl doped with Ce3+,Tb3+ were grown using the Bridgeman-Stockbarger technique. Thermoluminescence (TL), optical absorption, photoluminescence (PL), photo-stimulated luminescence (PSL), and thermal-stimulated luminescence (TSL) properties were studied after -ray irradiation at room temperature. The glow curve of the -ray-irradiated crystal exhibits three peaks at 420, 470 and 525 K. F-Light bleaching (560 nm) leads to a drastic change in the TL glow curve. The optical absorption measurements indicate that F- and V-centres are formed in the crystal during -ray irradiation. It was attempted to incorporate a broad band of cerium activator into the narrow band of terbium in the KCl host without a reduction in the emission intensity. Cerium co-doped KCl:Tb crystals showed broad band emission due to the d-f transition of cerium and a reduction in the intensity of the emission peak due to D-5(3)-F-7(j) (j = 3, 4) transition of terbium, when excited at 330 nm. These results support that energy transfer occurs from cerium to terbium in the KCl host. Co-doping Ce3+ ions greatly intensified the excitation peak at 339 nm for the emission at 400 nm of Tb3+. The emission due to Tb3+ ions was confirmed by PSL and TSL spectra. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.