Optimization of structural and luminescent properties with intense red emitting thermally stable Sm3+ doped CaBiVO5 phosphors for w-LED applications

Abstract

Sm3+ doped CaBiVO5 (CBV: Sm3+) phosphors synthesized namely by solid-state reaction (SSR), combustion (CB) and citrate sol-gel (SG) method to optimize the synthesis procedure and also to enhance the luminescent properties for the first time. X-ray powder diffraction patterns and scanning electron micrographs recorded for the synthesized CBV: Sm3+ phosphors to analyse structural and morphological aspects, respectively. The excitation spectra measured by monitoring emission at 649 nm for CBV: Sm3+ phosphors reveal significant absorption in ultraviolet (UV), near (n)-UV and blue spectral regions. The comparative photoluminescence (PL) spectra measured under 343 nm excitation for differently synthesized CBV: Sm3+ phosphors, which exhibit significantly enhanced emission intensity for SG derived phosphor than other adopted methods. The PL spectra for SG derived 1.0 mol% Sm3+ doped CBV phosphor at λex = 275 and 343 nm exhibit sharp peaks located at 566, 606 and 649 nm along with weak host emission broadband and for λex = 406 nm, similar sharp peaks of Sm3+ transitions are observed without any host emission. Unlike mostly explored Sm3+ doped phosphors, emission peak in red spectral region (649 nm) is more intense as compared to the emission peak in orange region (599 nm) in the present work. The energy transfer mechanism responsible for concentration quenching in CBV phosphors is discussed in detail. The CBV: Sm3+ phosphors manifest color tunability from orange to orange-red region by modulating excitation from 275 nm (0.567, 0.404) to 343 nm (0.591, 0.399) and finally to 406 nm (0.620, 0.376). The temperature-dependent PL studies indicate appreciable thermal stability of as-prepared phosphor. Above mentioned results suggest that CBV: Sm3+ phosphor has great potential for use in white light-emitting diode (w-LED) applications.