A novel borate compound
Ba3ScB9O18 has been synthesized by solid-state reaction and its structure has been determined and refined from powder X-ray diffraction data. This compound crystallizes in a hexagonal cell (space group P63/m) with lattice parameters a=7.1360(4) Å and c=16.5420(9) Å, and each unit cell contains two formulas. Its crystal structure is made up of planar
B3O6 groups parallel to each other along the [001] direction, regular
ScO6 octahedra, irregular
BaO6 hexagons, and BaO9 polyhedra to form an analogue structure of
Ba3YB9O18. DTA and TGA curves for
Ba3ScB9O18 show that it is a chemically stable and congruent melting compound. Luminescence properties for Ba3ScB9O18 were investigated using fluorescence spectroscopy and X-ray excited luminescence measurements. Its emission spectrum upon UV excitation (330 nm) has exhibited a prominent blue-green emission band at about 490 nm, and its XEL spectra show an intense emission band in the range of 360 to 500 nm with peak center at 400 nm. The light yield of
Ba3ScB9O18 powders is about 23% as large as that of BGO powders under the same measurement conditions. There seems to be a certain relationship between the scintillation properties and the structural features of
Ba3ScB9O18.
Vacuum ultraviolet-ultraviolet and x-ray excited luminescence properties of Ba3Gd(BO3)3:Ce3+