Preparation and luminescence properties of orange-red Ba3Y4O9:Sm3+ phosphors

A novel orange-red emitting Ba 3 Y 4 O 9 :Sm 3+ phosphors were prepared by a high temperature solid-state reaction in air. X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence spectra, fluorescence decay and temperature-dependent emission spectra were utilized to characterize the structure and luminescence properties. The results show that the excitation spectrum includes a series of linear peaks at 350, 367, 382, 410, 424, 445, 470 and 495 nm, respectively. Under 410 nm excitation, the emission peaks were located at 574 nm ( 4 G 5/2 — 6 H 5/2 ), 608 nm ( 4 G 5/2 — 6 H 7/2 ), 659 nm ( 4 G 5/2 — 6 H 9/2 ) and 722 nm ( 4 G 5/2 — 6 H 11/2 ), respectively. The concentration quenching occurs when x equals 0.08 for Ba 3 Y 4– x O 9 : x Sm 3+ phosphor and its mechanism is ascribed to the dipole–dipole interaction. The chromaticity coordinates of Ba 3 Y 3.92 O 9 :0.08Sm 3+ phosphor are in the orange-red region. The temperature-dependent study shows that this phosphor has excellent luminescence thermal-stability. And the luminescence intensity of Ba 3 Y 3.92 O 9 :0.08Sm 3+ phosphor at 473 K only declines by about 25.75% of its initial intensity. The experimental data indicate that Ba 3 Y 4 O 9 :Sm 3+ phosphor may be promising as an orange-red emitting phosphor for white light emitting diodes .