Study on synthesis and luminescent properties of Mn4+ doped (Gd,Y)3Al5O12 phosphor

Abstract In this paper, a series of Gd2.4Y0.6Al5-xMnxO12 (x = 0.0001–0.003) precursor were synthesized by co-precipitation method using ammonium bicarbonate as precipitant and rare earth nitrate as mother salt solution, following calcined at 1500 °C to obtain resultant phosphor. The garnet lattice stability, microstructure, structural characteristics and fluorescence properties were investigated by FT-IR, XRD, FE-SEM, PL/PLE and fluorescence decay analysis, respectively. The resultant phosphors Gd2.4Y0.6Al5-xMnxO12 (x = 0.0001–0.003) with uniform particle morphology and size display good red emission at ∼677 nm (2E→4A2 transition of Mn4+) under excitation wavelength of 322 nm (4A2→4T1 transition of Mn4+). The quenching concentration of Mn4+ ions were determined to be ∼0.02 at.%, and the quenching mechanism was due to the electric dipole-quadruple interactions. The Ca2+, Mg2+, Sr2+, Ba2+ and Zn2+ doping can significantly enhance the red emission of Mn4+ ions owing to the charge compensation effect. The Gd2.4Y0.6Al5-xMnxO12 (x = 0.0001–0.003) garnet phosphors with good luminescent properties are expected to be widely used in lighting and display areas.