Synthesis and Spectroscopic Investigations of Sm3+ Activated ZrO2 and Na2ZrO3 as Warm Light Phosphors

In this work, we investigate how the structural and optical characteristics of ZrO2 and Na2ZrO3 are influenced by Sm3+ ion doping. Urea-assisted combustion approach is employed by varying the molar concentration of Sm3+ ions in both the host lattices. XRD pattern revealed the monoclinic crystal system for both samples. XPS investigation has been examined to acquire the chemical information of the samples. FESEM is used to identify the morphology of the samples. The optimum molar concentrations of Sm3+ doped ZrO2 and Na2ZrO3 phosphors, as per photoluminescence (PL) findings, are 1.5 mol% and 2 mol%, respectively. CIE coordinates of ZrO2:Sm3+ and Na2ZrO3:Sm3+ are found to be (x = 0.59, y = 0.41) and (x = 0.61, y = 0.39) that corresponds to the amber region of color gamut. The optical bandgap for the synthesized samples is estimated using the UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra and the obtained values for the optimal concentration of dopant (Sm3+) in the ZrO2 and Na2ZrO3 samples are 4.61 and 4.94 eV, respectively. The findings of the study reveal that the synthesized phosphors may be utilized as warm light phosphors and be a promising candidate for amber light-emitting diodes (LEDs).