Luminescence properties of Ce3+ and Tb3+ ions codoped strontium borate phosphate phosphors

Abstract The Ce 3+ -activated, Tb 3+ -activated, and Ce 3+ and Tb 3+ co-activated phosphors 2SrO– n B 2 O 3 –(1− n )P 2 O 5 were synthesized by the solid-state reaction. The structures, photoluminescent spectra and dynamics of them were systemically studied. The results demonstrate that the structure of the samples with n =0.10–0.50 belongs to the hexagonal phase. When n is beyond this range, the structures are the mixed phases of α-Sr 2 P 2 O 7 and Sr 2 B 2 O 5 . The optimum composition is determined to be n =0.25 for the 2SrO– n B 2 O 3 –(1− n )P 2 O 5 phosphors. As n varies from 0.01 to 0.50, the lifetime of Ce 3+ ion increases gradually, while the lifetime of Tb 3+ ion decreases, indicating that the energy transfer efficiency decreases with the increase of n . The ET efficiency between Ce 3+ and Tb 3+ in the optimum composition reaches to 70%. The present results demonstrate that the Ce 3+ and Tb 3+ co-activated hexagonal 2SrO–0.25B 2 O 3 –0.75P 2 O 5 powders can possibly be applied as the newly developed green efficient phosphors in the field of lighting and display.