Novel far-red-emitting SrGdAlO4:Mn4+ phosphors with excellent responsiveness to phytochrome PFR for plant growth lighting.

Abstract

In this work, we reported on novel far-red-emitting SrGdAlO4:Mn4+ (SGA:Mn4+) phosphors towards application in plant growth lighting. The crystal structure and luminescence properties were investigated on the basis of X-ray diffraction, excitation and emission spectra, luminescence decay curves and temperature-dependent photoluminescence spectra. When excited by 353 nm, the SGA:Mn4+ phosphors showed a far-red emission band in the 650–800 nm wavelength range with peaks at 709 and 725 nm, which was due to the 2Eg → 4A2g electron transition of Mn4+ ion. The optimal Mn4+ doping concentration was about 0.1 mol%. The CIE chromaticity coordinates of the SGA:0.1%Mn4+ sample were (0.7064, 0.2934). The luminescence decay lifetimes decreased gradually from 1.263 to 0.868 ms with the increasing Mn4+ concentrations. Notably, the emission band of SGA:0.1%Mn4+ sample was well-matched with the absorption spectrum of phytochrome PFR, which indicated the SGA:Mn4+ were potential far-red-emitting phosphors for plant growth applications.