Electronic structure and optical properties of Tb3+ host-sensitized NaTb(MoO4)2 narrow-band green-emitting phosphor

Developing highly efficient and stable inorganic narrow-band green-emitting phosphor is crucial for phosphor converted backlighting devices. In this study, trivalent Tb 3+ ions self-actived NaTb(MoO 4 ) 2 (NTM) narrow-band green-emitting phosphor was prepared by a conventional high-temperature solid-state reaction method. The electronic structure, luminescence properties and luminescence thermal stability of NTM were studied through experiments and theoretical calculations. The structure of NTM was determined to be a tetragonal phase with the space group of I41/a (88). Besides, the NTM was confirmed with direct bandgap characteristics with bandgap width of 3.1231 eV. Upon 266 nm and 355 nm ultraviolet (UV) excitation, the narrow-band green-emitting properties of the phosphor were investigated. Importantly, the phosphor was confirmed with well luminescence thermal stability and the thermal activation energy ( E a ) was fitted to be 0.32 eV. The work demonstrates that trivalent Tb 3+ ions self-actived NTM is promising as high luminescence stable narrow-band green-emitting phosphor for backlighting display applications.