Korean Journal of Materials Research ISSN:1225-0562(Print) 2287-7258(Online) 한국재료학회지

‘Tracers’ are bullets that emit light at the backside so that the shooter can see the trajectory of their flight. These light-emitting bullets allow snipers to hit targets faster and more accurately. Conventional tracers are all combustion type which use the heat generated upon ignition. However, the conventional tracer has a fire risk at the impact site due to the residual flame and has a by-product that can contaminate the inside of the gun and lead to firearm failure. To resolve these problems, it is necessary to develop non-combustion-type tracers that can convert heat to luminance, so-called ‘thermoluminescence (TL)’. Here, we highly improve the thermoluminescence properties of MgB₄O₇ through co-doping of Dy³⁺+Ce³⁺ and Dy³⁺+Na⁺. The presence of doping materials (Dy³⁺, Ce³⁺, Na⁺) was confirmed by XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy). The as-synthesized co-doped MgB₄O₇ was irradiated with a specific radiation dose and heated to 500 °C under dark conditions. Different thermoluminescence characteristics were exhibited depending on the type or amounts of doping elements, and the highest luminance of 370 cd/m² was obtained when Dy 10 % and Na 5 % were co-doped.