Luminescence properties and energy transfer in Al5O6N:Ce3+,Tb3+ phosphors

This paper presents the production of novel green-emitting Al5O6N:Ce3+,Tb3+ phosphors by a solid-state reaction method. The phosphors produced were well crystallized and had very good photoluminescence properties. In particular, they had blue and green emission bands under excitation with near-ultraviolet light. The analysis of the experimental results (i.e. emission and excitation spectra and decay curves) suggests the occurrence of an effective energy transfer from Ce3+ to Tb3+, which is predominantly governed by a resonant type mechanism via dipole-dipole interactions.