Red emission from Mn4+-containing oxides inspired
the
development of high color rendering and cost-effective white-light-emitting
diodes (WLEDs). Aiming at this fact, a series of new crystallographic
site modified (Mg, Ba)3M2GeO8: Mn4+ (M = Al, Ga) compositions were developed with strong deep-red
emission in the reaction to UV and blue lights. The Mg3Al2GeO8 host is composed of three phases: orthorhombic-Mg3Ga2GeO8, orthorhombic-Mg2GeO4, and cubic-MgAl2O4. However,
Mg3Ga2GeO8 secured an orthorhombic
crystal structure. Interestingly, Mg3Al2GeO8: Mn4+ showed a 13-fold more intense emission than
Mg3Ga2GeO8: Mn4+ since
Mn4+ occupancy was preferable to [AlO6] sites
compared to [GaO6]. The coexisting phases of MgAl2O4 and Mg2GeO4 in Mg3Al2GeO8: Mn4+ contributed to Mn4+ luminescence by providing additional [AlO6] and
[MgO6] octahedrons for Mn4+ occupancy. Further,
these sites reduced the natural reduction probability of Mn4+ to Mn2+ in [AlO4] tetrahedrons, which was
confirmed using cathodoluminescence analysis for the first time. A
cationic substitution strategy was employed on Mg3M2GeO8: Mn4+ to improve the luminescence,
and Mg3–x
Ba
x
M2GeO8: Mn4+ (M = Al, Ga)
phosphors were synthesized. Partial substitution of larger Ba2+ ions in Mg2+ sites caused structural distortions
and generated a new Ba impurity phase, which improved the photoluminescence.
Compositionally tuned Mg2.73Ba0.27Al1.993GeO8: 0.005Mn4+ exhibited a 35-fold higher
emission than that of Mg3Ga1.993GeO8: 0.005Mn4+. Additionally, this could retain 70% of its
ambient emission intensity at 453 K. A warm WLED with a correlated
color temperature (CCT) of 3730 K and a CRI of 89 was fabricated by
combining the optimized red component with Y3Al5O12: Ce3+ and 410 nm blue LED. By tuning the
ratio of blue (BaMgAl10O17: Eu2+),
green (Ce0.63Tb0.37MgAl11O19), and red (Mg2.73Ba0.27Al2GeO8: 0.005Mn4+) phosphors, another WLED was developed
using a 280 nm UV-LED chip. This showed natural white emission with
a CRI of 79 and a CCT of 5306 K. Meanwhile, three red LEDs were also
fabricated using the Mg2.73Ba0.27Al1.993GeO8: 0.005Mn4+ phosphor with commercial sources.
These could be potential pc-LEDs for plant growth applications.