Efficiency enhancement of the novel Sr2MgAl22O36:Eu2+ phosphor via partial nitridation

A novel Eu-doped strontium magnesium aluminate phosphor (Sr 2 MgAl 22 O 36 :Eu 2+ , SMAO:Eu 2+ ) and its partial nitridation compound (Sr 2 MgAl 22 O 36-3/2x N x :Eu 2+ , SMAON:Eu 2+ ) have been synthesized successfully via a solid state reaction with Al 2 O 3 partly substituted by AlN. The specimen preserves the main phase of Sr 2 MgAl 22 O 36 as a certain amount of AlN incorporated. SMAON:Eu 2+ phosphors showed a broad blue emission band around 460   nm under ultraviolet-light excitation (340   nm), arising from the variation of emission energy between nitrogen doped and un-doped phosphor. The emission intensity of SMAON:Eu 2+ phosphors are increased up to 153% compared with that of SMAO:Eu 2+ . With the increase of Eu 2+ concentration, luminescent intensity of the phosphors increases continuously and reaches a maximum value at the concentration of 0.16 Eu 2+ . It is noteworthy that the PL intensity of SMAON:Eu 2+ increases to 129% at 200   °C in comparison with that of room temperature ( vs 58% for SMAO:Eu 2+ comparably), exhibiting excellent thermal stability.