Luminescence and energy transfer properties of Sr3Y(PO4)3:Ce3+, Mn2+ phosphors

A series of highly efficient Sr3−yY1−x(PO4)3:xCe3+,yMn2+(SYP:xCe3+, Mn2+) phosphors have been prepared via a solid state reaction. The XRD (X-ray diffraction) data, PL (photoluminescence) and PLE (photoluminescence excitation) properties and ET (energy transfer) mechanism of obtained phosphors were discussed. When prepared in air, the self-reducing process of turning Ce4+ into Ce3+ can be found in SYP:xCe3+ phosphor. A bright red light emission was presented in the Ce3+ and Mn2+ co-doping samples via the efficient ET from the sensitizer Ce3+ to Mn2+, which is ascribed to electric multipolar interaction between these two kinds of ions. The critical concentration of Ce3+ in SrY1−x(PO4)3:xCe3+ and Mn2+ in Sr3−yY1−x(PO4)3:xCe3+, yMn2+ are x=0.07 and y=0.15, respectively. In addition, the ET efficiency reach 51.6% when the luminescence intensity of Ce3+ is half of that in the absence of Mn2+ and the concentration of Mn2+ is 0.15. The emission color of the phosphors were also clarify by CIE coordinate briefly.