Luminescence properties and energy transfer in the novel red emitting phosphors Ba2Ln(BO3)2Cl:Sm3+, Eu3+ (Ln=Y, Gd)

A series of Sm3+/Eu3+ singly and co-doped Ba2Ln(BO3)2Cl (Ln=Y3+, Gd3+) phosphors were prepared via the solid-state method. The XRD results indicate that the as-prepared products keep the monoclinic structure with a P21/m space group of Ba2Ln(BO3)2Cl, which belongs to the isomorphic substitution for Ln3+ sites in the Ba2Yb(BO3)2Cl host. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra demonstrate that Ba2Ln(BO3)2Cl:Sm3+,Eu3+ emits red light centered at 593 nm under the 393 nm excitation which is in good agreement with the emission wavelength from near ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The luminescence decays suggest that the energy transfer from Sm3+ to Eu3+ ions in Ba2Ln(BO3)2Cl:Eu3+, Sm3+ occurs. All results mean that Ba2Ln(BO3)2Cl:Eu3+, Sm3+ phosphors exhibit potential to act as a kind of red phosphor for near ultraviolet white light-emitting diodes (w-LEDs).