Preparation and luminescence properties of orange–red Ba3Y(PO4)3:Sm3+ phosphors

• Ba3Y(PO4)3:Sm3+ phosphor is firstly prepared by a conventional solid-state reaction.
• The characterize emissions of Sm3+ are obviously observed under 403 nm excitation.
• The mechanism of concentration quenching is ascribed to be electric dipole–dipole interaction.
• The temperature dependent luminescence of Ba3Y(PO4)3:Sm3+ phosphor has been studied.

Ba3Y(PO4)3:Sm3+ phosphors were prepared by a high temperature solid-state reaction in air. X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence spectra and temperature-dependent emission spectra were utilized to characterize the structure and luminescence properties of the as-prepared phosphor. The results show that the phosphor can be efficiently excited by ultraviolet light and emit a satisfactory orange–red performance, nicely, fitting in well with the widely used UV LED chip. Under 403 nm excitation, the 4G5/2 → 6HJ (J = 5/2, 7/2, 9/2, and 11/2) emissions of Sm3+ are obviously observed. The optimum doping concentration is 5 mol% and corresponding quenching behavior is ascribed to be electric dipole–dipole interaction according to Dexter’s theory. The temperature dependent luminescence of Ba3Y(PO4)3:Sm3+ phosphor is also discussed, and the activation energy for thermal quenching is calculated as 0.34 eV. Furthermore, the chromaticity coordinates of Ba3Y(PO4)3:Sm3+ phosphor are calculated to be (0.5558, 0.4380) and the lifetime values of Ba3Y0.995(PO4)3:0.005Sm3+ was 2.45 ms.