Ultra Broad Range Pressure Tunable CaZrO3:Ce3+ Luminescence for Multiparametric Manometry

Abstract

Optical manometry is essential in diamond anvil cell experiments, motivating pressure-sensitive phosphors that provide robust broadband readouts over a wide pressure range. Here we report a Ce3+-activated CaZrO3 perovskite phosphor with a low dopant level of about 0.40 atom % Ce quantified by EDS, and we evaluate its pressure-dependent luminescence response. Powder XRD and SEM-EDS confirm a single-phase CaZrO3 host and successful incorporation of the Ce activator. Temperature-dependent photoluminescence and lifetime measurements reveal that the material exhibits good thermal stability. Under compression up to 45 GPa, the broadband Ce3+ 5d-4f emission exhibits an almost linear redshift of the band centroid with dλ/dP about 2.45 nm GPa-1 and a concurrent broadening of FWHM with dFWHM/dP about 1.15 nm GPa-1. In parallel, the CIE 1931 chromaticity coordinates derived from the full emission spectrum evolve regularly with pressure, enabling a continuous color change from blue to green and offering a convenient visual readout. High-pressure Raman spectra indicate a structural transition near 30 GPa, consistent with synchrotron XRD reports for CaZrO3, yet no discontinuity is observed in the pressure dependences of the luminescence parameters. First-principles calculations suggest that compression is mainly accommodated by ZrO6 octahedral tilting and anisotropic polyhedral compression, whereas the local Ce-O crystal-field environment evolves smoothly, accounting for the continuous optical response through the transition. These results establish CaZrO3:Ce3+ as a wide-range, multi-parameter optical manometer for high-pressure calibration at room temperature.