Luminescence of Eu(III), Pr(III) and Sm(III) in Carbonate-Fluor-Apatite

The purpose of this work was identification of luminescent lines occurring in natural carbonate-fluor-apatite (francolite) mineral. For identification of several rare earth ions occurring in natural francolite, the luminescence of rare earth ions was extensively studied in artificial mineral consisting of a pure francolite (not containing rare earth) of the composition Ca$\text{}_{5}$(PO$\text{}_{4}$)$\text{}_{3}$ (F,O):Ca$\text{}_{5}$(PO$\text{}_{4}$)$\text{}_{3}$ CO$\text{}_{3}$ activated with Pr, Eu and Sm ions and then compared with the luminescence features observed in natural mineral.