Luminescence and energy-transfer properties of color-tunable Ca2Mg0.25Al1.5Si1.25O7:Ce(3+)/Eu(2+)/Tb(3+) phosphors for ultraviolet light-emitting diodes

Abstract

A series of Ca2Mg0.25Al1.5Si1.25O7:Ce(3+)/Eu(2+)/Tb(3+) phosphors was been prepared via a conventional high temperature solid-state reaction and their luminescence properties were studied. The emission spectra of Ca2Mg0.25Al1.5Si1.25O7:Ce(3+),Eu(2+) and Ca2Mg0.25Al1.5Si1.25O7:Ce(3+),Tb(3+) phosphors show not only a band due to Ce(3+) ions (409 nm) but also as a band due to Eu(2+) (520 nm) and Tb(3+) (542 nm) ions. More importantly, the effective energy transfer from Ce(3+) to Eu(2+) and Tb(3+) ions was confirmed and investigated by emission/excitation spectra and luminescent decay behaviors. Furthermore, the energy level scheme and energy transfer mechanism were investigated and were demonstrated to be of resonant type via dipole-dipole (Ce(3+) to Eu(2+)) and dipole-quadrupole (Ce(3+) to Tb(3+)) reactions, respectively. Under excitation at 350 nm, the emitting color could be changed from blue to green by adjusting the relative doping concentration of Ce(3+) and Eu(2+) ions as well as Ce(3+) and Tb(3+) ions. The above results indicate that Ca2Mg0.25Al1.5Si1.25O7:Ce(3+),Eu(2+)/Tb(3+) are promising single-phase blue-to-green phosphors for application in phosphor conversion white-light-emitting diodes.

Keywords: Ca2Mg0.25Al1.5Si1.25O7:Ce3+/Eu2+/Tb3+; WLED; color-tunable; energy transfer.