Abnormal thermal quenching and blue-shift of Zn3(BO3)(PO4):Inducing host defect by doping Mn2+ and Tb3+

Abstract

It is well-known that the thermal quenching (which is caused by non-radiative transition) damages the efficiencies of fluorescent lamps and LED lamps, especially for the high-power devices. Therefore, it is important to reduce the thermal quenching for improving the performance of illumination devices. In this work, Zn3(BO3)(PO4):Mn2+,Tb3+ is designed which appeared abnormal thermal quenching behavior. The phosphor does not exhibit thermal quenching even up to 200 °C (for emission of Mn2+) and 150 °C (for emission of Tb3+). The abnormal phenomenon is related to the shallow effects which are caused by the Mn2+ and Tb3+ doping in the host. Meanwhile, the thermal active phonon-assisted excitation also prevents the thermal quenching, which results in the broadening and blue-shift of the emission bands. Our result demonstrated that Zn3(BO3)(PO4):Mn2+, Tb3+ may be a potential candidate for the exploration of thermal stable materials.