Novel single phase warm white-emitting phosphor BaLaGaO4:Dy3+,Sm3+ with high thermal stability and color stability

Abstract

In this study, new phosphors BaLaGaO4 (BLGO) doped with dysprosium (Dy3+) and samarium (Sm3+) ions were created using a high-temperature solid-state method. Characterizations with X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and elemental mapping revealed successful doping and uniform elemental distribution. Then the samples were tested for photoluminescence (PL) spectra, the results indicated that the BaLaGaO4:xDy3+ (BLGO:xDy3+) phosphors emitted strong blue and yellow light upon excitation at 350 nm. The emission peaks were located at 480 and 572 nm, respectively. By introducing different proportions of Sm3+ ions, the BaLaGaO4:0.04Dy3+,ySm3+ (BLGO:0.04Dy3+,ySm3+) samples could be excited at 365 nm, and enhancing the red emission component of the phosphor. Meantime, with increasing Sm3+ content, the correlated color temperature (CCT) decreased from 5507 to 3767 K. And the emission spectrum and decay lifetime of BLGO:0.04Dy3+,ySm3+ confirmed the energy transfer from Dy3+ to Sm3+. Furthermore, at 423 K, the luminous intensity of BLGO:0.04Dy3+,0.04Sm3+ retained 86 % of its strength at 298 K, and the chromaticity shift (ΔS) was only 0.00574, which indicated that the sample had excellent thermal stability and excellent color stability. Finally, using the prepared sample and a 365 nm light-emitting diode (LED) chip, a white light-emitting diode (WLED) was fabricated. The CCT of the manufactured WLED also showed a corresponding reduction (from 3423 to 2814 K). Moreover, under the working conditions of 3.4 V and 0.6A, the thermal imaging obtained after 90 min of WLED operation shows the stability of the packaged WLED at high temperature. These researches show that the phosphor has potential application value in indoor lighting technologies.