Preparation and luminescence properties of color-tunable single-phased LaPO₄:Eu³⁺/Tb³⁺ phosphors

Abstract

A novel series of color-tunable single-phased phosphors La_1–x–y PO₄:xEu³⁺/yTb³⁺(x=0, 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, 0.05; y=0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) was synthesized via co-precipitation method with diammonium hydrogen phosphate as precipitant. The morphology, crystal structure and photoluminescence properties of the as-prepared samples were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction(XRD), scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and fluorescence spectrophotometer. The results reveal that the as-synthesized samples calcined at 1100 °C display spherical morphology with uniform distribution. Upon excitation with 350 nm ultraviolet radiation, the LaPO₄:Eu³⁺/Tb³⁺ phosphors showed a green light peaking at 543 nm assigned to the characteristic ⁵ D ₄-⁷ F ₅ emission of Tb³⁺ and a red light peaking at 591 nm corresponding to the characteristic ⁵D₀-⁷ F ₁ emission of Eu³⁺ simultaneously. For the Eu³⁺/Tb³⁺ co-activated phosphors, Tb³⁺ acts as an efficient sensitizer to enhance the emission intensity of Eu³⁺ ions. The energy transfer mechanism and the emission color tunability of LaPO₄:Eu³⁺/Tb³⁺ have been studied. The results indicate that a color-tunable luminescence(from green to white to red) can be achieved by adjusting the Eu³⁺/Tb³⁺ doping ratio in the LaPO₄ host matrix.