Structural studies of a green-emitting terbium doped calcium zinc phosphate phosphor

Abstract In this study, a new green emitting CaZn 2 (PO 4 ) 2 :Tb 3+ phosphors were synthesized through solid-state reaction route. The phosphors were characterized structurally by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). All the synthesized phosphors were crystallized in triclinic crystal structure with P 1 ¯ space group. The phosphate groups in the phosphors were confirmed by FTIR analysis. The surface elements O 1 s, P 2 p, Ca 2 p, Zn 2 p and Tb 3 d were studied by high-resolution XPS spectra. Upon excitation at 378 nm, the dominant green emission of CaZn 2 (PO 4 ) 2 :Tb 3+ phosphors at 542 nm were noticed in the emission spectra. For various emission wavelengths (at 435 and 489 nm) and constant excitation wavelength (at 378 nm), the decay curves have shown two different decay dynamics of phosphors. The lighting properties such as Commission International de l’Eclairage ( x  = 0.319, y  = 0.398) and color temperature (5995 K) were calculated.