Synthesis and photoluminescence properties of a new orange-red emitting phosphor KBa2(PO3)5:Sm3+

A series of Sm3+-doped KBa2(PO3)5 phosphors were synthesized successfully via high temperature solid-state reaction, and their structure, morphology and photoluminescence properties were investigated. The emission spectra consisted of several sharp emission peaks centered at 560 nm, 596 nm, 642 nm and 700 nm, which can be assigned to the characterize f → f transformations of Sm3+ activator. The strongest one at 596 nm corresponds to the 4G5/2 → 6H7/2 transition. The optimum dopant concentration of Sm3+ activator in KBa2(PO3)5 host matrix is about 1 mol%. When the doping amount of Sm3+ was further increased, the concentration quenching phenomenon was observed. The CIE coordinates of KBa2(PO3)5: 0.01Sm3+ phosphor was measured to be (0.5657, 0.4205), corresponding to orange-red color with a high color purity of about 90%. Hence, we may expect that the obtained phosphors KBa2(PO3)5:xSm3+ may be potentially used as an orange-red phosphor for white light-emitting diodes (w-LEDs).