Optical properties, luminescence quenching mechanism and radiation hardness of Eu-doped GaN red powder phosphor

Abstract

Abstract We report on the luminescence quenching mechanism of Eu-doped GaN powder phosphor produced with a low-cost, high yield rapid-ammonothermal method. We have studied as-synthesized and acid rinsed Eu-doped GaN powders with the Eu concentration of ∼0.5 at.%. The Eu-doped GaN photoluminescence (PL) was investigated with 325 nm excitation wavelength at hydrostatic pressures up to 7.7 GPa in temperature range between 12 K and 300 K. The room temperature integrated Eu 3+ ion PL intensity from acid rinsed material is a few times stronger than from the as-synthesized material. The temperature dependent PL studies revealed that the thermal quenching of the dominant Eu 3+ ion transition ( 5 D 0 → 7 F 2 ) at 622 nm is stronger in the chemically modified phosphor indicating more efficient coupling between the Eu 3+ ion and passivated GaN powder grains. Furthermore, it was found that thermal quenching of Eu 3+ ion emission intensity can be completely suppressed in studied materials by applied pressure. This is due to stronger localization of bound exciton on Eu 3+ ion trap induced by hydrostatic pressure. Furthermore, the effect of 2 MeV oxygen irradiation on the PL properties has been investigated for highly efficient Eu-doped GaN phosphor embedded in KBr–GaN:Eu 3+ composite. Fairly good radiation damage resistance was obtained for 1.7 × 10 12 to 5 × 10 13 cm −2 oxygen fluence. Preliminary data indicate that Eu-doped GaN powder phosphor can be considered for devices in a radiation environment.