The impact of local structure variation on thermal quenching of luminescence in Ca3MoxW1−xO6:Eu3+ solid solution phosphors

Abstract

Near-ultraviolet (NUV, 365–410 nm) excitable white light emitting diodes require intense absorption in the NUV region for the tri-color phosphors (red, green, and blue). Optional red phosphor Ca3MoO6:Eu3+ meets the requirement of NUV absorption but suffers from severe quenching, while Ca3WO6:Eu3+ has good resistance to thermal quenching but could not absorb NUV light efficiently. It is requisite to investigate the candidate Ca3MoxW1−xO6:Eu3+ to balance the both effects. Results indicate that thermal quenching turns to be worse with an increase in Mo contents in the solid solutions with inevitable distortions or defects, especially when exciting the charge transfer band of WO6 and MoO6 groups. Temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy is utilized to reveal the impact of structural variation in the quenching process since the variations influence the energy transfer between WO6/MoO6 groups and Eu3+ ions or among Eu3+ ions. Results show that the tilting or distortion of the Ca/W/MoO6 octahedral framework and weakened Eu3+-O bonds have large impacts on thermal quenching performance of Eu3+ luminescence in the solid solutions. The research would benefit the design of novel red phosphors.