Investigation of spectral properties of Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺ doped strontium zirconium trioxide orthorhombic perovskite for optical and sensing applications

In this paper, the structural, morphological and spectral properties of Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺ doped strontium zirconium trioxide perovskite phosphors are reported. The samples were synthesized by solid state reaction route with different doping concentrations of Eu³⁺ and Tb³⁺ ions. These synthesized phosphors were characterized by PXRD for structural analysis. The phosphors report orthorhombic structure with average crystallite size of 48 nm. FESEM and HRTEM analysis were done here for topographical and morphological studies. Also, the FTIR spectra of synthesized samples were investigated for functional group analysis. Photoluminescence and thermoluminescence spectra of synthesized samples were studied. On subjecting to 230 nm excitation, the phosphors give three distinct emissions of 596, 610 and 690 nm in the visible region corresponding to ⁵D₀ → ⁷F₁, ⁵D₀ → ⁷F₂ and ⁵D₀ → ⁷F₄ of Eu³⁺ ions. The synthesized samples were also subjected to CIE and Afterglow decay analysis. The average decay lifetime is recorded as 56.24 ns confirming the luminescence decay characteristics of short duration. In TL analysis of these phosphors, second-order kinetics with low activation energy varying from 0.50002 to 0.65668 eV is reported. The enhanced optical characteristics of prepared perovskite phosphor substantiate it as a proficient alternative for photovoltaic, optical and sensing applications.