Synthesis and luminescence properties of novel Ce3+ doped BaZrSi3O9 phosphors

The novel phosphors BaZrSi3O9:Ce3+(BZS:Ce3+) have been successfully synthesized by the conventional solid-state reaction. The phase purity and crystal structure were obtained by X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements and Rietveld refinement. The photoluminescence spectroscopy revealed that the as-prepared phosphors exhibited a bright blue emission under the excitation by near ultraviolet light and the PL emission peaks of BZS:xCe3+ showed a red-shift from 432 nm to 451 nm on the Ce3+ concentration increasing. The corresponding red-shift mechanism has been discussed. The concentration quenching behavior was observed. The luminescence decay curves and lifetime values were analyzed. This phosphor exhibited high internal quantum efficiency. Thermal quenching luminescence properties showed that the emitting intensity was remained 44.60% of that measured at room temperature when the temperature increased to 398 K. The results indicate that the BaZrSi3O9:Ce phosphor is a promising blue-emitting phosphor for the application as an ultraviolet-convertible phosphor.