Studies on the luminescence properties of CaZrO3:Eu3+ phosphors prepared by the solid state reaction method

CaZrO3:xEu3+ (x = 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 mol%) phosphors were successfully prepared by a solid state reaction method. The crystal structure of sintered phosphors was hexagonal phase with space group of Pm-3m. The near ultra-violet (NUV) excitation, emission spectra of the CaZrO3:xEu3+ phosphors were composed of sharp line emission associated with the transitions from the excited states 5D0 to the ground state 7Fj (j = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4) of Eu3+. The results indicated that CaZrO3:xEu3+ might become an important orange-red phosphor candidate for use in white light emitting diodes (WLEDs) with near-UV LED chips. The mechanoluminescence (ML) intensity increases linearly with increasing impact velocity of the moving piston, suggesting that the sintered phosphors can also be useful as a stress sensor.