Temperature dependent emission characteristics of monoclinic YBO3: Eu3+/Tb3+ phosphor

YBO3:Eu3+/Tb3+ phosphor samples synthesized by modified combustion method are studied in the present work using powder X-ray diffraction, UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, X-ray excited luminescence spectroscopy and optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based laser excited emission spectroscopy. The temperature dependence of luminescence emission is also studied. The structural analysis suggests that the samples possess monoclinic structure with C2/c space group. The emission maximum was excitation wavelength dependent and prominent emission was observed at 593 nm (241 nm excitation) and 613 nm (300 nm excitation) for YBO3:Eu3+ samples. The prominent magnetic/ electric (593/613 nm) dipole-moment allowed transitions are attributed to the presence of Eu3+ at different sites. For YBO3:Tb3+ phosphor, 543 nm emission was prominent and had no impact of the cite symmetry. The increase in PL intensity in Eu3+ doped samples above 225 K is associated with the carrier mobility. An energy level scheme showing the positions of the 4f and 5d energy levels of all divalent and trivalent lanthanide ions relative to the valence and conduction band of the YBO3 has been constructed opening the possibility of using YBO3 for other interesting applications.