On the orange-red persistent luminescence of ScPO4:Eu3+

ScPO4:0.1%Eu3+ sintered materials were found to generate orange-red persistent emission following exposure to X-rays. A set of thermoluminescence techniques and isothermal decay measurements were used to study the mechanisms of the carriers’ trapping and detrapping processes. The two main TL peaks at around 90 °C (363 K) and 160 °C (433 K) were found to result from so-called continuous distribution of trap depths. Room temperature fading proved that the persistent luminescence was connected with the strong TL peak at ∼90 °C (363 K). The persistent emission kinetics was characterized by a linear dependence of I−1(t). This was consistent with the continuous distribution of trap energies observed in the material. The main persistent emission components were located around 590, 620, and 720 nm. The most significant contribution was from the first and the third of them, resulting from the 5D0→7F1 and 5D0→7F4 transitions, respectively.