The photoluminescence indicating compositional changes of Er3+-doped (Ba1-xCax)(Zr0.1Ti0.9)O3 piezoelectric ceramics

This paper reports that Er3+-doped (0.5 mol%) lead-free (Ba1-xCax)(Zr0.1Ti0.9)O-3 dense ceramics, synthesized via a sol-gel synthesis route and a ceramic sintering process, possess excellent photoluminescence performance, which is sensitive to compositional changes. The morphotropic phase boundary (MPB) of (Ba1-xCax)(Zr0.1Ti0.9)O-3 was found to be located at x=0.15 based on experimental dependence curves of dielectric and piezoelectric constants on x. The photoluminescence dependence on the compositional changes at MPB was also investigated. The study revealed that on increasing x from 0.05 to 0.30, the photoluminescence peak intensity at 550 nm first increased and then decreased, giving to an extreme value at x=0.15. The strong dependence of photoluminescence on x was attributed to the high hypersensitivity of Er3+ to lattice symmetry. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.