Solution Combustion Synthesis and Energy Transfer in LaMgAl11O19:Tb3+/Sm3+ Tunable Phosphor

¹Department of Physics, Kamla Nehru Mahavidyalaya, Nagpur 440009, India
²Department of Physics, R.T.M. Nagpur University, Nagpur 440033, India

Adv. Mater. Lett., 2021, 12 (2), 21021601

DOI: 10.5185/amlett.2021.021601

Publication Date (Web): Dec 16, 2020

Copyright © IAAM-VBRI Press

E-mail: suresh.puppalwar@gmail.com

Abstract

Tb³⁺/Sm³⁺ single as well as co-doped LaMgAl₁₁O₁₉ (LMA) phosphors have been synthesized by a low-temperature solution combustion method. The X-ray diffraction pattern, photoluminescence properties and energy transfer (ET) processes between rare earth (RE) ions, were investigated in detail. The mechanism of energy transfer (ET) from Tb³⁺ to Sm³⁺ was seen as the dipole–dipole interaction. Efficient ET from Tb³⁺ to Sm³⁺ ions was observed, leading to color-tunable emissions of LMA:0.02Tb³⁺, x Sm³⁺ (x = 0.005 to 0.02 mol) phosphors. The efficiency of the ET gradually increased with increase in the Sm³⁺ ion concentration, reaching a maximum of 78.28% at Tb³⁺ ion concentration 0.02mol. The critical distance (R_c) among sensitizer and activator by the concentration quenching method was estimated to be 27.96 Å. The LMA: Tb³⁺, Sm³⁺ phosphors exhibited the emission peaks in the blue (⁵D₃→⁷F_{J = 5, 4, 3, and 2}), green (⁵D₄→⁷F_{J = 6, 5, and 4}), and orange-red (⁴G_5/2→⁶H_{J = 5/2, 7/2, and 9/2}) regions under the excitation wavelength of 375 nm. As a consequence of fine-tuning of the emission composition of the Tb³⁺ and Sm³⁺ ions, multicolor emitting luminescence properties can be achieved in a single host lattice LMA.

Keywords

LaMgAl₁₁O₁₉, luminescence, energy transfer, dipole-dipole interaction, concentration quenching.