Synthesis and luminescence properties of Ca3Ga2Si3O12:RE3+ (RE = Eu/Tb) powder phosphors

ABSTRACT Rare earth ions (Eu3+ or Tb3+)‐activated Ca3 Ga2 Si3O12 (CaGaSi) phosphors were synthesized by using a sol–gel method. Photoluminescence spectra of Eu3+:CaGaSi phosphors exhibited five emission bands at 578, 592, 612, 652 and 701 nm, which were assigned to the transitions (5D0 → 7F0, 7F1, 7F2, 7F3 and 7F4), respectively, with an excitation wavelength of λexci = 392 nm. Among these, the transition 5D0 → 7F2 (612 nm) displayed bright red emission. In the case of Tb3+:CaGaSi phosphors, four emission bands were observed at 488 (5D4 → 7F6), 543 (5D4 → 7F5), 584 (5D4 → 7F4) and 614 nm (5D4 → 7F3) from the measurement of PL spectra with λexci = 376 nm. Among these, the transition 5D4 → 7F5 at 543 nm displayed bright green emission. The structure and morphology of the phosphors were studied from the measurements of X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy‐dispersive X‐ray analysis (EDAX) results. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.