Photoluminescence Properties of Novel BaLiZn3(BO3)3:RE (RE = Sm3+, Tb3+, Dy3+, and Pb2+) Blue, Green, Orange-Red Emitting Phosphors for White Light Emitting Diodes

Abstract

A new class of BaLiZn3(BO3)(3):RE (RE = Sm3+, Tb3+, Dy3+, and Pb2+) phosphors were synthesized with a solid- state reaction method. The minor concentrations of various rare earth (Tb3+, Dy3+, and Sm3+) ions and transition metal (Pb2+) ions activated in the BaLiZn3(BO3) host matrix were characterized by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The XRD results of BaLiZn3(BO3)3:RE (RE = Sm3+, Tb3+, Dy3+, and Pb2+) phosphors confirmed that all the samples have a monoclinic phase. SEM studies revealed that the morphology of BaLiZn3(BO3)(3):RE (RE = Sm3+, Tb3+, Dy3+, and Pb2+) phosphors was irregular. The photoluminescence emission and excitation spectra show that these phosphors can be effectively excited by near-ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (n-UV), and they all exhibit an efficient orange-red (Sm3+, (4)G(5/2) -> H-6(7/2)), green (Tb3+, D-5(4) -> F-7(5)), yellow (Dy3+, F-4(9/2) -> H-6(13/2)), and blue (Pb2+, P-3(1) -> S-1(0)) emission. All of the above results confirmed that the obtained phosphors could be a potential candidate for n-UV-excited WLEDs.