Infrared Luminescent Properties of a Pr-Doped KBr Submicron Rod

KBr:Pr with a submicron rod structure is successfully synthesized by a solid-state reaction using absolute alcohol as the abrasive. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, photoluminescence spectra and fluorescence decay curves are used to characterize the resulting materials. The influences of Pr3+ dopant concentration on the luminescence and lifetime are discussed. Furthermore, luminescent measurements show that KBr:Pr has a high emission intensity compared with other Pr-doped matrixes, which is related to the low phonon energy of KBr. The results suggest that the phonon energy of the host is important in determining the luminescent efficiency.