Low temperature synthesis, characterization and tunable optical properties of Eu3+, Tb3+ doped CaMoO4 nanoparticles

• Red and green nanophosphors of CaMoO4:Eu3+ and Tb3+ were synthesized via an ethylene glycol route at very low temperature.
• The prepared nanoparticles have tetragonal structure.
• The luminescence properties of the nanoparticles are also studied extensively.
• CIE chromaticity coordinates of the phosphors are also studied.
• The blue-green emission of host could be easily tuned to red or green by varying the dopant ion used in the host.

CaMoO4 doped with Eu3+ and Tb3+ nanoparticles are obtained using ethylene glycol as the solvent. The synthesis has been carried out at 130 °C temperature. The XRD patterns reveal that all the doped samples are well assigned to the scheelite structure of the CaMoO4 phase. Upon excitation by ultraviolet radiation, the CaMoO4:Eu3+, Tb3+ phosphors show the characteristic emission lines of Eu3+ and Tb3+. For Eu3+ doped samples, red emission dominates over other transitions and for Tb3+ doped, green emission is the predominant one. The blue-green emission of the host could be easily tuned to red and green by doping with activator ions. The emission intensity is also dependent on the concentration of the dopant ions. The prepared nanoparticles could find applications in LEDs and other optical devices.