Photoluminescent properties of LaVO4:Eu3+ by structural transformation

LaVO4:Eu3+ powder was synthesized by a solid-state reaction using high energy ball milling. Generally, the bulk composition of LaVO4 synthesized by a conventional solid-state reaction has a thermodynamically stable monoclinic phase. In this study, a mixture of tetragonal and monoclinic phases was observed when the Eu3+ concentration was increased from 0.05 to 0.20 mol. The structural and optical properties of these samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and photoluminescence (PL) along with their lifetime measurements. The phosphors showed strong red emission at 619.5 nm due to the electric dipole transition 5D0→7F2 of Eu3+ ions. The PL intensity of LaVO4:Eu3+ increased with increase in tetragonal phase concentration of LaVO4:Eu3+.