Effect of annealing on structural and optical properties of lead tungstate microcrystals

Shuttle-like lead tungstate (PbWO₄) microcrystals are synthesized at room temperature using the precipitation method with the cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide. Results from both the X-ray diffraction and the scanning electron microscopy show that the lattice distortions of the PbWO ₄ microcrystals are reduced significantly when the annealing temperature is increased to 873 K. The result from the ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy shows that the exciton absorption appears in the sample annealed at 673 K. The self-trapped exciton luminescence due to the Jahn-Teller effect is also observed in the blue band. The interstitial oxygen ions in the WO₄^2- groups are mainly resposible for the enhancement effect of the green luminescence of the annealed samples. The above results are supported by the spectrum analysis of the as-grown and the post-annealed samples using the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.