Luminescence properties and energy transfer of co-doped Ba3GdNa(PO4)3F:Ce3+,Tb3+ green-emitting phosphors.

Phase pure Ce³⁺ and Tb³⁺ singly doped and Ce³⁺/Tb³⁺ co-doped Ba₃GdNa(PO₄)₃F samples have been synthesized via the high temperature solid-state reaction. The crystal structures, photoluminescence properties, fluorescence lifetimes, thermal properties and energy transfer of Ba₃GdNa(PO₄)₃F:Ce³⁺,Tb³⁺ were systematically investigated. Rietveld structure refinement indicates that Ba₃GdNa(PO₄)₃F crystallizes in a hexagonal crystal system with the space group <italic>P-6</italic>. For the co-doped Ba₃GdNa(PO₄)₃F:Ce³⁺,Tb³⁺ samples, the emission color can be tuned from blue to green by varying the doping concentration of the Tb³⁺ ions. The intense green emission was realized in the Ba₃GdNa(PO₄)₃F:Ce³⁺,Tb³⁺ phosphors on the basis of the highly efficient energy transfer from Ce³⁺ to Tb³⁺. Also the energy transfer mechanism has been confirmed to be quadrupole-quadrupole interaction, which can be validated via the agreement of critical distances obtained from the concentration quenching (13.84 Å). These results show that the developed phosphors may possess potential applications in near-ultraviolet pumped white light-emitting diodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]