Enhanced luminescent properties of Sm3+ doped glass ceramics – as potential red–orange phosphor for white light-emitting diodes

Abstract Sm3+ doped transparent glass ceramics containing BaGdF5 nanocrystals were successfully fabricated by melt-quenching technique, and their structural and luminescent properties were investigated. The existence of BaGdF5 nanocrystals in the glass ceramics was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and the microstructure of nanocrystals was observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The emission spectra of glass matrix consisted of several sharp emission bands centered at 561 nm, 597 nm, and 644 nm. Among of them, the strongest one was located at 597 nm due to 4G5/2–6H7/2 transition of Sm3+ generating bright orange–red light. Intense emissions of Sm3+ under 403 nm excitation were observed in glass ceramics, which may result from the incorporation of Sm3+ ions into BaGdF5 with lower phonon. The CIE chromaticity coordinates of glass ceramics were estimated (0.5785, 0.4206) and located in the region of red–orange. The results show that Sm3+ doped glass ceramics exhibit a potential to act as a kind of red–orange phosphor for near ultraviolet white light-emitting diodes (W-LEDs).