Luminescence properties of phosphate phosphor Ba3Y(PO4)3:Sm3+

• Different concentration Sm3+-doped Ba3Y(PO4)3 phosphors were fabricated by solid state method.
• The optimized phosphors present the several excitation bands from 300 to 500 nm.
• The Ba3Y(PO4)3:Sm3+ shows bright reddish orange emissions under 401 nm excitation.

A series of reddish orange-emitting phosphate phosphors Ba3Y1−x(PO4)3:xSm3+(0.01≤x≤0.20) were synthesized by solid-state reaction. X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence spectra were utilized to characterize the structure and luminescence properties of as-synthesized phosphors. The optimized phosphors Ba3Y0.95(PO4)3:0.05Sm3+ present several excitation bands from 300 to 500 nm, and exhibit intense reddish orange-emitting properties. The energy transfer type between Sm3+ ions was confirmed as d–d interaction by using Van Uitert model. The chromatic properties of the typical sample Ba3Y(PO4)3:0.05Sm3+ phosphor have been found to have chromaticity coordinates of (0.583, 0.405), which are located in reddish orange region under the excitation of 401 nm. These results indicated that Ba3Y(PO4)3:Sm3+ phosphors have potential applications in the field of lighting and display due to their effective excitation in the near-ultraviolet range.

The color coordinates for 5 mol% Sm3+ doped Ba3Y(PO4)3 phosphor were calculated to be (0.583, 0.405), which are located in reddish orange region under the excitation of 401 nm. The peaks of Ba3Y0.95(PO4)3:0.05Sm3+ phosphor with the highest emission intensity at 600 nm are broader than those of Y2O3:Eu3+ and Y2O2S:Eu3+ phosphors. All these characteristics suggest that Ba3Y(PO4)3:Sm3+ phosphors are suitable for near-UV (370–410 nm) excitation and can be applicable to near UV-based WLEDs. Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide