Luminescence properties of Eu²⁺ and Sm³⁺ co-doped in KBaPO₄

Abstract

KBaPO4:Eu2+/Sm3+ phosphor was synthesized via the high-temperature solid-phase reaction method. The structural properties, surface morphology, and optical properties of the synthesized samples were obtained by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and fluorescence measurements. The XRD patterns indicate that the crystal structure of KBaPO4 has not been changed by co-doped with two rare-earth ions. Under the excitation of 400 nm, the Eu2+ and Sm3+ co-doped KBaPO4 phosphors showed typical emission peaks at 430 (blue), 562 (yellow), and 600 nm (red). Meanwhile, with the increase of the Sm3+ content, the photoluminescent (PL) emission intensity of Sm3+ increased until the content reaches 0.12. However, the PL intensity of Eu2+ ions gradually decreased, which indicated that there was a possible energy transfer between the two ions. Therefore, the obtained results indicated that Eu2+/Sm3+ co-doped KBaPO4 is a promising phosphor for the use in white light-emitting diodes with near ultraviolet chips.