Emission tunability and local environment in europium-doped OH−-free calcium aluminosilicate glasses for artificial lighting applications

• Eu2+-doped OH− free calcium aluminosilicate glass as a new source for white lighting.
• Correlation between emission tunability and local environment of europium ions.
• Significant reduction of Eu3+ to Eu2+ by melting the glasses under vacuum atmosphere.
• Broad, intense and tunable luminescence ranging from blue to red.

The relationship between emission tunability and the local environment of europium ions in OH−-free calcium aluminosilicate glasses was investigated, focusing on the development of devices for artificial lighting. Significant conversion of Eu3+ to Eu2+ was obtained by means of melting the glasses under a vacuum atmosphere and controlling the silica content, resulting in broad, intense, and tunable luminescence ranging from blue to red. Electron spin resonance and X-ray absorption near edge structure measurements enabled correlation of the luminescence behavior of the material with the Eu2+/Eu3+ concentration ratio and changes in the surrounding ions' crystal field. The coordinates of the CIE 1931 chromaticity diagram were calculated from the spectra, and the contour maps showed that the light emitted from Eu2+ presented broad bands and enhanced color tuning, ranging from reddish-orange to blue. The results showed that these Eu doped glasses can be used for tunable white lighting by combining matrix composition and the adjustment of the pumping wavelength.