Hydrothermal synthesis and luminescent properties of LnPO4:Tb,Bi (Ln=La,Gd) phosphors under UV/VUV excitation

Monoclinic LnPO4:Tb,Bi (Ln=La,Gd) phosphors were prepared by hydrothermal reaction and their luminescent properties under ultraviolet (UV) and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) excitation were investigated. LaPO4:Tb,Bi phosphor and GdPO4:Tb phosphor showed the strongest emission intensity under 254 and 147 nm excitation, respectively, because of the different energy transfer models. In UV region, Bi3+ absorbed most energy then transferred to Tb3+, but in VUV region it was the host which absorbed most energy and transferred to Tb3+.