Enhancement of red emission in Ba2Mg(BO3)2:Eu2+, Mn2+ phosphor under 365 nm excitation

Red phosphors Ba2Mg(BO3)2: Eu2+, Mn2+, M2+ (M=Sr, Ca and Zn) are prepared by a high temperature solid-state reaction method. The phosphors exhibit red emission bands centered at 622 nm and have broad excitation bands extending from 250 to 450 nm with a maximum at 365 nm, which makes them potential red phosphors for near-ultraviolet light-emitting diodes-based solid-state lighting. The substitution effect of doped Sr2+, Ca2+ and Zn2+ ions on luminescence properties in Ba2Mg(BO3)2 host has been systemically investigated. It is found that the doped Ca2+ and Zn2+ ions effectively enhance the luminescence intensity, while Sr2+ lowers the luminescent intensity. Especially, the intensity of the phosphor has been enhanced by 60% with 3 mol% of Zn2+ doped. It is believed that the change of Mg2+ sites rather than Ba2+ in Ba2Mg(BO3)2 host has more significant impact on the luminescence properties and is more possible to enhance the light emission intensity. The investigation might provide a meaningful reference for the improvement of new phosphors in LEDs application.