Luminescence properties and energy transfer of Ce3+/Tb3+ co-doped Ca9La(PO4)5(SiO4)F2 phosphor.

Emission-tunable phosphors Ca 9 La(PO 4 ) 5 (SiO 4 )F 2 :Ce 3+ ,Tb 3+ with apatite structure were synthesized by a solid-state reaction. The phase structure, photoluminescence (PL) properties, lifetimes and the PL thermal stability were investigated, respectively. The phosphor exhibited an asymmetric broad-band blue emission (Ce 3+ ) with peak at 403 nm and the line-type green emission with peak at 543 nm (Tb 3+ ). The varied color of the phosphors from blue to green can be achieved by properly tuning the relative ratio of Ce 3+ /Tb 3+ through the energy transfer from Ce 3+ to Tb 3+ ions. The critical distance was calculated to be 8.78 Å by using the concentration quenching method. When the temperature turned up to 150 °C, the emission intensity of Ca 9 La(PO 4 ) 5 (SiO 4 )F 2 :Ce 3+ ,Tb 3+ phosphor was 77% of its initial value at room temperature, which indicated the good thermal stability of the sample. All the properties indicate that the Ca 9 La(PO 4 ) 5 (SiO 4 )F 2 :Ce 3+ ,Tb 3+ phosphor has potential application of color-tunable w -LEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]