Synthesis and photoluminescence properties of Ba2CaZn2Si6O17:Tb3+ green phosphor

•A novel Tb3+-activated Ba2CaZn2Si6O17 phosphors was synthesized by solid state reaction method.•The dominant PL emission peak of Ba2CaZn2Si6O17:Tb3+ phosphor was 547nm under excitation at 240nm.•The optimal Tb3+ concentration in Ba2CaZn2Si6O17:Tb3+ phosphor is 10mol%.•CIE color coordinates were calculated. Ba2Ca1−xZn2Si6O17:xTb3+ green emitting phosphors with different concentrations (x=0.01, 0.03, 0.06, 0.08, 0.10, 0.15 and 0.20) of Tb3+ ions were synthesized using solid state reaction method. The phase composition of the synthesized phosphors was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). The morphology was studied using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The excitation and emission spectra were measured to characterize the photoluminescence properties. The optimum Tb3+ concentration in this phosphor was 10mol%. The Tb–Tb critical distance was calculated to be ∼19.6Å. The dipole–dipole interaction dominates in the non-radiative energy transfer between the Tb3+ ions and causes the concentration quenching. The decay time value of the Ba2CaZn2Si6O17:0.10Tb3+ phosphor is about 4.86ms. The CIE coordinates were calculated as x=0.242, y=0.383. The quantum efficiency for x=0.10 sample excited by 240nm is 14.3%.