Photoluminescence, reddish orange long persistent luminescence and photostimulated luminescence properties of praseodymium doped CdGeO₃ phosphor

Highlights: • A novel phosphor CdGeO₃:Pr³⁺ was synthesized successfully. • The persistent luminescence properties of CdGeO₃:Pr³⁺ were studied. • The photostimulated luminescence properties of CdGeO₃:Pr³⁺ were investigated. • The persistent and photostimulated luminescence mechanisms were discussed in detail. - Abstract: Praseodymium doped CdGeO₃ phosphors were prepared successfully by a conventional high temperature solid-state reaction method. It showed reddish orange long persistent luminescence (LPL) after the short UV-irradiation. The reddish orange photostimulated luminescence (PSL) was also observed upon near infrared stimulation at 980 nm after per-exposure into UV light. The origin of LPL and PSL was identified with the emission from Pr³⁺ ions with the aid of traps in host lattice. The optimal concentration of Pr³⁺ ions for the brightest photoluminescence (PL) emission and the best LPL characteristic were experimentally to be about 3% and 0.5 mol%, respectively. The trapping and de-trapping processes of charge carriers between shallower and deep traps were illustrated. A model was proposed on the basis of experimental results to study the mechanisms of LPL and PSL