Unusual, broad red emission of novel Ce3+-activated Sr3Sc4O9 phosphors under visible-light excitation†
Abstract
Most conventional white light emitting diodes (white-LEDs) that are widely used as a new lighting system in next generation lights with Y3Al5O12:Ce3+ (YAG:Ce3+)-based phosphors have a low colour rendering index (CRI) because the YAG:Ce3+ phosphor shows a weak emission intensity in the red spectral region. Therefore, discovering a red-emitting phosphor with a high-efficiency is quite important to enhance the CRI of white-LEDs. In this study, we successfully discovered a novel, red-emitting Ce3+-activated Sr3Sc4O9 phosphor that can be excited by blue-light irradiation at 425 nm. A crystal structure of the host material was first determined by Rietveld refinement, which indicated that it should be isostructural with Ba3Ln4O9 (Ln = Sc, Y and Dy-Lu). As the Ce3+ content increased, the X-ray diffraction patterns shifted to a lower angle, which suggested that the Ce3+ ion could substitute Sc in the Sr3Sc4O9 host. Under UV and blue-light excitation, the Ce3+-activated Sr3Sc4O9 phosphor exhibited a broad emission band with a maximum peak at 620 nm, and its full width half maximum (FWHM) was 180 nm (4530 cm−1). The highest emission intensity was obtained for Sr3(Sc0.997Ce0.003)4O9, and the internal quantum efficiency of this phosphor under excitation at 425 nm was 53%. To the best of our knowledge, the emission band of the Ce3+-activated Sr3Sc4O9 phosphor is the longest wavelength for a reported Ce3+-activated oxide phosphor.