LAUSR

Abstract Selection of chemical fluxes for the phosphor synthesis is largely dependent on trial and error, so a detailed understanding of their selection is obligatory. The active role of various fluxes in influencing Pr 3+ emission, afterglow, structural and morphological properties of the as-synthesized (Ca,Zn)TiO 3 :Pr 3+ phosphor is less explored. Luminescent properties of the (Ca,Zn)TiO 3 :Pr 3+ phosphors show a significant enhancement in Pr 3+ emission with the addition of small quantities of fluxes. The persistence of the afterglow has also been increased to 15–30 min. Flux-dependent luminescent studies suggest that NH 4 BF 4 is the best suitable flux for (Ca 0.8 Zn 0.2 )TiO 3 :Pr 3+ phosphor among all others. X-ray diffraction studies confirm the orthorhombic phase of CaTiO 3 , in addition, low intensity peaks from cubic ZnTiO 3 phase have also been observed. The calculated Commission Internationale de I'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates for the optimized (Ca 0.8 Zn 0.2 )TiO 3 :Pr 3+ phosphor sample is found to be (0.66, 0.33), which is close to the ideal red coordinates with color purity of ∼96.39%. Spatial distribution of the activator ions was investigated using confocal microscopy. Thermoluminescence studies have been carried out to understand the trapping and detrapping behavior of phosphors. This multifunctional phosphor could serve fascinating applications in areas involving photon energy storage systems, strategic markings, biological staining etc.