Tunable luminescence properties and energy transfer of Ba3NaLa(PO4)3F:Tb3+,Sm3+ phosphors with apatite structure

Tb3+-Sm3+ co-doped Ba3NaLa(PO4)3F phosphors with apatite structure have been prepared by a high temperature solid-state reaction, and their luminescence properties have been investigated in detail. The energy transfer (ET) mechanism was verified as the dipole-quadrupole mechanism, and the ET efficiency as well as the critical distance is also estimated. As a result of fine-tuning of the emission composition of the Tb3+ and Sm3+ ions, tunable luminescence properties can be realized by combining the emission of Tb3+ and Sm3+ in a single host lattice under UV light excitation. The emission color of the obtained phosphors can be modulated from green to yellow by controlling the doping content of the Sm3+ ions with the fixed Tb3+ content. Additional, as the temperature increases from RT to 150 °C, the PL intensities of Ba3NaLa0.7(PO4)3F:0.10Tb3+,0.20Sm3+ decreased to 80.4% and 78.6% of the initial PL intensity, corresponding to the intensity of transition of Sm3+ and transition of Tb3+ in the Ba3NaLa0.7(PO4)3F:0.10Tb3+,0.20Sm3+ phosphor, respectively. These results indicate the series of Ba3NaLa1−x−y(PO4)3F:xTb3+,ySm3+ phosphors can be acted as a good candidate for the application in white light-emitting diodes.