Luminescent properties of Eu2+-activated (Ba, Sr)3MgSi2O8 phosphor under VUV irradiation

The blue-emitting phosphor BaMgAl10O17:Eu2+ (BAM) has been used in plasma display panels (PDP) due to its high emission efficiency, but it is known that degradation in emission intensity results from the baking process and long exposure to vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation. In this work, (Ba, Sr)3MgSi2O8:Eu2+ phosphors with a Merwinite structure were synthesized for application as a novel blue component. With the increase of Ba content in the phosphor composition, the emission spectrum was blue-shifted. The Ba/Sr ratio having the same central wavelength as BAM phosphor was 0.2 and the optimum Eu2+ concentration showing the maximum emission intensity was 1.5 mol%. In addition, the decrease in emission intensity of the (Ba, Sr)3MgSi2O8:Eu2+ phosphor by thermal degradation was relatively less than that in BAM.