Oxygen in activator centers of zinc sulfide

The authors observed the sensitized luminescence of Tm and Dy without addition of Cu and Ag in samples which had been obtained by the sulfonation of zinc sulfide in hydrogen sulfide; the zinc sulfide has a copper concentration below 5.10-6 mass %. In this case the excitation can be transmitted from the ZnS lattice to the rare-earth activators mainly through defects including oxygen. The following conclusions were made. In the case of activated ZnS, oxygen is present in formations accounting for the excitation and luminescence of a number of luminophors. When an activator is introduced in the region of ZnS layer faults, where also the oxygen must be located, the positioning of the faults in close vicinity is facilitated even when the oxygen concentration of the ZnS is low. All this must be considered when models of luminescence centers of zinc sulfide are developed