Structural and spectroscopic properties of Sm3+-doped NaBaB9O15 phosphor for optoelectronic device applications

Abstract

Sm3+-doped NaBaB9O15 phosphor was prepared using high-temperature solid-state reaction technique. The crystal structure and purity of the phase were analysed with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and pure phase obtained by sintering the sample at 800 °C. The Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra demonstrated the absorption band of the borates with stretching and vibrational modes of BO3 and BO4 units. The field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) images revealed the morphology and agglomerated structure of the micron size particles. The spectroscopic studies include photoluminescence excitation (PLE) and emission spectra of the NaBaB9O15: Sm3+ phosphors. Upon exciting as-synthesized phosphor with near UV light, three dominating peaks observed at 560, 594, and 640 nm wavelength. Furthermore, the emission spectra for varying the concentration of Sm3+ ions were measured to ascertain the optimum concentration of the dopant ion. The maximum intensity achieved with the 0.8 mol% of Sm3+ ion concentration at 594 nm and concentration quenching takes place beyond it. The chromaticity coordinates indicate the intense orangish-red emission of the as-prepared phosphor. Therefore, all these studies depict that the as-synthesized borate-based phosphor can be utilized for various optical device applications.