Energy Levels in the Forbidden Band of the Bi4Ge3O12 Ceramics

Thermally stimulated luminescence in the Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂ ceramics and also in the ceramics of the parent components Bi₂O₃ and GeO₂ is investigated. The similarity of the curves of the thermally stimulated luminescence in bismuth germanate with the structure of eulytine Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂ and sillenite Bi₁₂GeO₂₀ is explained. The relation of the thermally stimulated luminescence band in Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂ (with a maximum at 143 K) to the disruptions in the germanium sublattice and of the thermally stimulated band (with a maximum at 187 K) to the recombination processes in the bismuth sublattice is shown. It has been established that the light sum in the Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂ ceramics is stored most effectively upon excitation by light in an energy region of 4.4 eV.