Effect of Y3+ substitution on structural and photoluminescence properties of solid solutions [(Lu1−xYx)1−z Cez]3Al5O12 phosphors

Abstract Cerium activated Lu 3 Al 5 O 12 garnet, efficiently substituted by Y 3+ doping, and has been developed for green-yellow emitting phosphors. The powder processing of [(Lu 1− x Y x ) 1− z Ce z ] 3 Al 5 O 12 solid solution powder were achieved through synthesis via sol–gel method. The Y 3+ cationic substitutions in the LuAG host matrix have been changed from 0.05 to 0.2 at%, and their effects on structural and luminescence properties were systematically investigated. The phase formation and characteristics of solid solution were studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction technique (XRD), Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). The DSC result shows that the crystallization of the powder precursors started at 960 °C. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the single and pure cubic crystalline phase was formed and no secondary phases of the garnet structure are observed. The photoluminescence spectra of these solid solutions exhibit band edge emission at 500 nm in green-yellow region attributed to the interconfigurational 5d → 4f transitions of Ce 3+ ions. Additionally, the evolution of crystallite size and photoluminescence spectra with the increasing of Y 3+ content is studied and discussed.