Luminescence properties of Sm2+ in barium octaborates (BaB8O13 : Sm2+)

The luminescence of Sm2+ in BaB8O13 are studied as a function of temperature. At 10 K, several crystallographic sites for Sm2+ ions with inversion symmetry are possible and D-5(0) --> F-7(1) transition show predominant intensities, whereas above 50 K two crystallographic sites without inversion symmetry are clearly observed for Sm2+ in BaB8O13 and the D-5(0) --> F-7(0) transition show strongest intensity. The vibronic transitions and the non-radiative transitions of Sm2+ are studied and a coupled-phonon energy about 50 cm(-1) is obtained. The thermal effects on the line shift, emission intensities, half-width and lifetime of the D-5(0) --> F-7(0) transition are also studied. The decay curves at different temperatures are all in single exponential and are temperature-independent with lifetime around 3.5 ms. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.