Luminescence and energy transfer of white emitting phosphor Ba3Ce(PO4)3: Dy3+

A series of white emitting phosphors Ba3Ce(PO4)3:Dy3+ were synthesized by a solid-state method, and the luminescent property and energy transfer were explored in detail. Ba3Ce(PO4)3:Dy3+ shows three emission peaks, the blue emission band is associated to the 4f°5d1 → 4f1 transition of Ce3+ ions, and the two narrow peaks are assigned to the 4F9/2 → 6H15/2 (490 nm) and 4F9/2 → 6H13/2 (580 nm) transitions of Dy3+ ions, respectively. There are an efficient energy transfer from Ce3+ to Dy3+ ions in Ba3Ce(PO4)3:Dy3+, which can be proved by the decay curves. Importantly, Ba3Ce(PO4)3:Dy3+ can produce white emission with the CIE coordinates (0.3294, 0.3376). The results show that Ba3Ce(PO4)3:Dy3+ may be a potential application in white light emitting diodes.