Microwave-induced small size effect of (Ba, Sr)3MgSi2O8:0.06Eu2+, 0.1Mn2+ phosphor for 660 nm-featured bio-lighting

Abstract The 660 nm-featured (Ba, Sr) 3 MgSi 2 O 8 :0.06Eu 2 + , 0.1Mn 2+ (AMS-EM) phosphor in violet for red/blue bio-lighting LEDs was prepared by 2.45 GHz microwave (MW) high temperature firing procedure. The phase-pure host phase, (Ba, Sr) 3 MgSi 2 O 8 , was formed to be responsible for simultaneous red band emission from Mn ion and blue band emission from Eu ion, while the formation of an impurity phase of Sr 2 SiO 4 responsible for 505 nm-peaked green band emission for Eu ion was effectively suppressed owing to MW fast-heating procedure. Small sized and agglomeration-free phosphor particles were either observed, which was probably resulted from suppressing the grain growth in as-formed host particles, compared with conventional high-temp solid state (SS) reaction firing procedure. These results indicate that high-temp MW firing procedure is suitable for preparing this simultaneously red- and blue-emitting AMS-EM phosphor in the application of bio-lighting for plant cultivation.