Thermal Stability Study of $Eu^{2+}-doped$ $BaAl_2Si_2O_8$ Phosphor using Polymorphism for Plasma Display Panel applications

We have evaluated thermal stability of a $BaAl_2Si_2O_8:Eu^{2+}$ $(BAS:Eu^{2+})$, which have polymorph property such as hexagonal, monoclinic structure depending upon firing temperature. When both polymorph $BAS:Eu^{2+}$ were baked in air at 500 $^{\circ}C$ for 30 min, the photoluminescence (PL) intensity of $monoclinic-BAS:Eu^{2+}$ was maintained of the initial intensity. However, the PL intensity of $hexagonal-BAS:Eu^{2+}$ decreased significantly, corresponding to about 34 %. From analyses of Rietveld refinement, the difference of thermal stability of both $BAS:Eu^{2+}$ can be ascribed to both crystal structure of host materials and the average interatomic distances between $Eu^{2+}$ ion and oxygen their crystal structure which plays a key role of shield for Eu2+ ions against oxidation atmosphere.