Luminescence and energy transfer of white emitting phosphor YAl3(BO3)4:Ce3+, Dy3+

A white emitting phosphor of YAl3(BO3)4:Ce3+, Dy3+ is synthesized by a solid state reaction, and its luminescent properties are investigated. Its phase formation is carried out with X-ray powder diffraction analysis, and there is no crystalline phase other than YAl3(BO3)4. YAl3(BO3)4:Ce3+ can produce 422 nm blue emission under 367 nm excitation. The emission spectrum of YAl3(BO3)4:Dy3+ shows several emission peaks under 350 nm excitation, and the peaks locate at 485 nm, 575 nm and 668 nm, respectively. Emission intensities of Ce3+ and Dy3+ in YAl3(BO3)4 are influenced by their concentrations, and the concentration quenching effect is observed. Energy transfer from Ce3+ to Dy3+ in YAl3(BO3)4 is validated and proved to be a resonant type via a quadrupole-quadrupole interaction, and the emission color can be tuned from blue to white by tuning the ratio of Ce3+/Dy3+. Moreover, the critical distance (R c) of Ce3+ to Dy3+ in YAl3(BO3)4 is calculated to be 1.904 nm.