J. Lumin., 2020, 222, 117190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2020.117190.

Persistent luminescence phosphors with long duration and high emitting intensity have attracted considerable attention for applications in safety signage and energy storage. Herein, we successfully introduce non-equivalent ions Si⁴⁺ into Al³⁺ sites in the garnet phosphor Y₃Al₂Ga₃O₁₂:Ce³⁺,Yb³⁺,B³⁺ by conventional solid-state reaction. The persistent luminescence duration has been dramatically enhanced over 40 h at the 0.32 mcd/m² threshold value after visible light radiation, almost twice longer than the sample without Si⁴⁺. Moreover, the afterglow emission intensity of the persistent luminescence is also improved. We confirm that the synthesized phosphors possess not only deeper trap depth but also wider trap distribution and higher trap density after the cooperation of Si⁴⁺. The initial rise approach is used by performing a series of thermoluminescence analyses at various temperatures after 432 nm excitation, which demonstrates the exact trap distribution from 0.47 to 1.11 eV. At the end, the mechanism of the persistent luminescence is depicted using a schematic energy diagram of the vacuum referred binding energy of Y₃Al₂Ga₃O₁₂.