Luminescence properties of Ce(3+)-doped NaPrP4O12 polyphosphate.

Studies on the crystal structure and luminescence properties have been performed for the NaPr(1-x)Ce(x)P(4)O(12) polyphosphate series. Excitation and emission spectra of Pr(3+) and Ce(3+) luminescence from NaPrP(4)O(12):Ce(3+) clearly reveal an efficient Pr(3+ ) → Ce(3+) energy transfer via migration over the Pr(3+)-sub-lattice and a nonradiative resonant transfer to the Ce(3+) ions. Analysis on scintillation characteristics of the NaPr(1-x)Ce(x)P(4)O(12) series shows a maximum light yield of 11,000 ± 1000 ph MeV(-1) for NaPr(0.99)Ce(0.01)P(4)O(12), proving the studied polyphosphates to be promising for application in the detection of x-ray and gamma quanta.