3D-hierachical spherical LuVO4:Tm3+,Dy3+,Eu3+ microcrystal: Synthesis, energy transfer, and tunable color

A series of color-tunable emitting LuVO 4 :Tm 3+ ,Dy 3+ ,Eu 3+ microspheres were successfully synthesized by a solvothermal process. The structure was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results revealed that the sample is pure tetragonal phase of LuVO 4 and consists of 3D-hierachical microspheres with the diameter about 2   μm. Additionally, the possible formation mechanism of microspheres was proposed. Furthermore, the photoluminescence properties of LuVO 4 :Dy 3+ ,Eu 3+ samples were investigated in detail. Both blue and yellow emissions corresponding to the 4 F 9/2 - 6 H 15/2 , 4 F 9/2 - 6 H 13/2 transition of Dy 3+ ions and red emission corresponding to the 5 D 0 - 7 F J (J   =   1,   2,   3,   4) transition of Eu 3+ ions can be observed in LuVO 4 :Dy 3+ ,Eu 3+ phosphors under 366   nm near-ultraviolet radiation. The energy transfer process between Dy 3+ and Eu 3+ was demonstrated to be resonant type via dipole-quadrupole mechanism. Additionally, when co-doping Dy 3+ with Tm 3+ or Eu 3+ or tri-doping Tm 3+ ,Dy 3+ ,Eu 3+ ions in the single component, the colorful emitting can be obtained by giving abundant blue, green, red, yellow, orange, especially white-light-emission. This type of color-tunable luminescence phosphors may have promising application in solid state lighting application.