Luminescence properties and energy transfer investigations of Sr3AlO4F:Ce3+, Tb3+ phosphor

Abstract Ce 3+ and Tb 3+ co-doped Sr 3 AlO 4 F phosphors were synthesized by the conventional high temperature solid-state method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to characterize the phase structure. The luminescence spectra and decay lifetime curves of Ce 3+ have been measured to prove energy transfer (ET) from Ce 3+ to Tb 3+ . Under the excitation of near-ultraviolet light, Sr 3 AlO 4 F:Ce 3+ ,Tb 3+ phosphors exhibited blue emission corresponding to the f–d transition of Ce 3+ ions and green emission bands corresponding to the f–f transition of Tb 3+ ions, respectively. Effective energy transfer occurred from Ce 3+ to Tb 3+ in Sr 3 AlO 4 F host due to the observed spectra overlap between the emission spectrum of Ce 3+ ion and the excitation spectrum of Tb 3+ ion. The energy transfer efficiency from Ce 3+ ion to Tb 3+ ion was also calculated to be 51%. Furthermore, the energy transfer from Ce 3+ to Tb 3+ in Sr 3 AlO 4 F host was demonstrated to be resonant type via a dipole–dipole interaction mechanism. The present Ce 3+ and Tb 3+ co-doped Sr 3 AlO 4 F phosphor may have potential use in the technology of white light-emitting diodes.