A novel solid-state synthesis of long afterglow, Si-N co-doped, Y3Al5O12:Ce3+ phosphor

Si-N co-doped Y3Al5O12:Ce3+ (YAG:Ce) phosphor was synthesized via a novel solid-state reaction method using CeSiO2N to simultaneously incorporate Si-N and Ce3+. The achieved phosphor exhibits increased red light component and better thermal quenching property. Additionally, an evident long afterglow luminescence was detected for the first time. The analysis of the experimental results (X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and thermoluminescence) suggests that the Si-N was homogeneously incorporated into YAG host lattice and most of the Ce3+ ions were directly coordinated with nitrogen. The deeper trap depth and greater number of oxygen vacancies around Ce3+ are responsible for the significantly enhanced long afterglow in Si-N co-doped YAG:Ce phosphor.