Preparation, energy transfer and tunable emission properties of Ca0.2Zr0.8O1.8:Eu3+ phosphor

Novel Ca 0.2 Zr 0.8 O 1.8 :Eu 3+ phosphor is synthesized by high-temperature solid-state reaction method in air. Host Ca 0.2 Zr 0.8 O 1.8 with excitation 310   nm shows deep-blue broadband emission within the range 340–500   nm owing to the Zr 4+   →   O 2− transition in [ZrO 8 ] group. Ca 0.2 Zr 0.8 O 1.8 :Eu 3+ phosphor with excitation 263 and 394   nm emits reddish-orange light owing to the 5 D 0   →   7 F J ( J   =   1, 2, 3, and 4) transitions of Eu 3+ ion, and that with excitation 310   nm shows a systematically varied hue from deep-blue to reddish-orange by changing Eu 3+ ion concentration . Tunable emission and energy transfer are confirmed via spectral properties. The optimal Eu 3+ concentration is ∼5   mol% in Ca 0.2 Zr 0.8 O 1.8 :Eu 3+ phosphor and the corresponding fluorescence lifetime is ∼1.994   ms. The luminous mechanism is analyzed and explained by the simplified energy level diagrams of [ZrO 8 ] group and Eu 3+ ion in Ca 0.2 Zr 0.8 O 1.8 :Eu 3+ phosphor.