Luminescence properties and energy transfer investigations of tri-doped Sr3AlO4F:Ce3+,Tb3+,Yb3+ phosphors

•Tri-doped Sr3AlO4F phosphors with Ce3+, Tb3+ and Yb3+ were synthesized.•The luminescence spectra and decay lifetime curves have been measured.•Energy transfer processes from Ce3+ → Tb3+ → Yb3+ were observed.•The energy transfer efficiency was also calculated.•The energy transfer mechanism was also discussed.

Novel tri-doped Sr3AlO4F phosphors with Ce3+, Tb3+ and Yb3+ were synthesized by a conventional high temperature solid-state reaction. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to characterize the phase structure. The luminescence spectra and decay lifetime curves of co-doped Sr3AlO4F:Tb3+,Yb3+ have been measured to prove energy transfer (ET) from Tb3+ to Yb3+. From the photoluminescence excitation and emission spectra of tri-doped Sr3AlO4F:Ce3+,Tb3+,Yb3+, energy transfer processes from Ce3+ → Tb3+ → Yb3+ was observed in Sr3AlO4F:Ce3+,Tb3+,Yb3+ phosphors under the excitation of near ultraviolet light. The energy transfer efficiency from Ce3+ → Tb3+ → Yb3+ was calculated. The energy transfer mechanism was also discussed. The present Ce3+,Tb3+,Yb3+ tri-doped Sr3AlO4F phosphor may have ideally potential use in the down-conversion of c-Si solar cells.