A novel Eu3+-doped phosphate glass for reddish orange emission: Preparation, structure and fluorescence properties

Abstract

As an indispensable component of full-color luminescence, the development of reddish orange light emitting materials cannot be ignored. Here, we prepared a novel Eu3+-doped P2O5–SrO–BaO–ZnO glasses with distinctive fluorescence properties. The effects of Eu2O3 content on the structure and properties of glasses were studied, aiming to provide a key guidance for the preparation of reddish orange light emitting glass. The prepared glasses consisted predominantly of metaphosphate units along with minor contribution from pyrophosphate and orthophosphate units. Three intensity parameters (Ω2,4,6) were estimated by Judd-Ofelt theory, which followed the trend as Ω2 > Ω4 > Ω6. Particularly, the intensity of 5D0 →7F4 transition was much greater than that of 5D0→7F2 transition as the Eu2O3 content exceeded 0.50 mol.%. Under excitation by 397 nm xenon lamp, the fluorescence lifetimes of glasses that emit reddish orange light were 2.49, 2.52, 2.61, 2.54 and 2.48 ms with increase in Eu2O3 content. Considering the common experimental errors, there was no significant change in the fluorescence lifetimes. The distinctive fluorescence properties indicate that this novel glass has potential applications in display devices.