Photoluminescence enhancement of Gd2Zr2O7:Eu3+ red phosphor sensitized by co-doped Al3+ ions

The exploration of new red phosphors is important for the development of white light-emitting diodes (w-LEDs), as existing red phosphors exhibit low efficiency and low performance. This work aims to enhance the photoluminescence characteristics of a red-emitting Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 :Eu 3+ phosphor by co-doping with Al 3+ . Eu 3+ single-doped and Eu 3+ and Al 3+ co-doped Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 nanophosphors that could be efficiently pumped by commercial near-UV LED chips were prepared by a modified liquid–solid–solution phase-transfer method. X-ray diffraction data revealed that the synthesized phosphors were well crystallized with single-phase fluorite structure. Scanning electron microscopy images showed that the particle size ranges from 15 to 25 nm. In addition, the optical performance of the samples was characterized by fluorescence spectroscopy and lifetime spectroscopy. The effect of Al 3+ on the luminescence performance of the Eu 3+ -doped Gd 2 Zr 2 O 7 phosphor was studied in detail. The emission intensity of the Gd 1.93 Zr 1 · 97 O 7 :Eu 3+ 0.07 Al 3+ 0.03 phosphor was found to be 620% stronger than that of the single-doped Eu 3+ phosphor. These results unambiguously show that the Gd 1.93 Zr 2- x O 7 :Eu 3+ 0.07 Al 3+ x phosphors are promising candidates for application in w-LEDs.