Luminescent behavior of Eu³⁺ doped BaHfO₃ perovskite ceramic under UV radiation

Highlights: • Powders of Eu doped BaHfO₃ were synthesized. • Effect of Eu dopant concentration was studied. • UV radiation effect in BaHfO₃:Eu was discussed. • Decay time of ⁵D₀ .→ ⁷F₀ transition was measured - Abstract: In this paper, luminescent properties of Europium trivalent ion in the matrix with unbalanced charge of barium hafnate under UV radiation, with special emphasis on the ⁵D₀ → ⁷F₀ transition are reported. The synthesis was conducted by the hydrothermal route at 200 °C with a reaction time of 90 min using chlorides as raw materials. In order to determinate the luminescent quenching concentration, the samples were doped with different amounts of Europium trivalent ions being the sample doped with 1 and 3% at of Eu³⁺ which shows the highest luminescent emission. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the material crystallize in the cubic perovskite structure with space group Pm-3m. The Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) shows there are not elements other those that Ba, Hf, O and Eu in the synthesized material. Photoluminescent emission spectra show peaks of emission associated with the ⁵D₀ → ⁷F_J (J = 0,1,2,3,4) transitions, characteristics of europium ion. The ⁵D₀ → ⁷F₀ transition centered at 580 nm showed an unusual great intensity when it was excited with the wavelength associated with the charge transfer band (272 nm). Finally the decay time was measured in the ⁵D₀ → ⁷F_J (J = 0,1,2,3,4) transitions using the sample doped with Eu³⁺ (3% at).