Optical Properties Of Pr³⁺ Doped 12CaO·7Al₂O₃ Powders Synthesized By Solid State Reaction Method

12CaO·7Al2O3:Pr3+(C12A7:Pr3+) powders were prepared by solid state reaction method. The microstructures of C12A7:Pr3+ powders were characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, the optical properties were studied by the excitation spectra and emission spectra.The XRD patterns indicated that the polycrystalline C12A7 powders with the cage structural single cubic phase were obtained, which indicated that Pr3+ had been incorporated into the C12A7 lattice. From excitation spectra, the excitation groups peaked at 446 nm,472 nm and 487 nm were observed, which were related to 3H4→3P2,3H4→3P1 and 3H4→3P0 transitions of Pr3+ ions in C12A7:Pr3+. The photoluminescence of C12A7:Pr3+ with different Pr3+ concentrations were observed under excitation at 450 nm, the red emission groups peaked at 592 nm,600 nm,612 nm,623 nm and 652 nm were observed, which were related to 3P0→3H6,1D2→3H4 and 3P0→3F2 transition of Pr3+ ions. The study on the photoluminescence spectra with different Pr3+ concentrations showed that the intensity of the emission peaked at 612 nm decreased with increasing Pr3+ concentrations, however, the intensity of the emission peaked at 600 nm increased with increasing Pr3+ concentrations. Obviously, C12A7 could be a good candidate for Pr3+ doping and C12A7:Pr3+ could be a good candidate for applications in lighting industry and display technology because of the red emission.