Chemical substitution effects of elements on photoluminescence properties of YAG:Ce phosphors using orthogonal experimental design

In this paper, the chemical substitution effects of elements on photoluminescence properties of YAG:Ce phosphors were studied by orthogonal experimental design. The controllable factors used in this design consisted of Tb3+, Ga3+, and Si4+ substitution in YAG:Ce host. Emission intensities and wavelengths of as-obtained phosphors were regarded as the indexes of orthogonal experiment. The experimental results show that the emission spectra are blue-shifted by Si4+ replaced Al3+ and red-shifted by Tb3+ substituted Y3+; meanwhile, the emission intensity visibly depends on the addition of Si4+ and Ga3+. The luminous efficiency is improved by proper elements substitution in YAG:Ce and the optimum composition (Y2.74Tb0.2Al4.7Si0.1Ga0.2:0.06Ce) shows good optical properties and has a great potential to substitute the commercial phosphors.

► We study the chemical substitution effects using orthogonal experimental design.
► Emission spectra will blue-shift by Si4+ replaced Al3+.
► Emission spectra will red-shift by Tb3+ substituted Y3+.
► Emission intensity will be tunable with the proper addition of Si4+ and Ga3+.