Significant enhancement of blue photoluminescence intensity of Dy~(3+) modified Sr_6Ca_4(PO_4)_6F_2:Eu~(2+) phosphors

Blue-emitting phosphors Sr_6 Ca_4(PO_4)_6 F_2:Eu~(2+)(SCPF:Eu~(2+)),Sr_6 Ca_4(PO_4)_6 F_2:Eu~(2+),Dy~(3+)(SCPF:Eu~(2+),Dy~(3+))and Sr_6 Ca_4(PO_4)_6 F_2:Eu~(2+),Dy~(3+),Si~(4+)(SCPF:Eu~(2+),Dy~(3+),Si~(4+)) with apatite structure were successfully synthesized by traditional solid-state reaction under reducing atmosphere.Eu~(2+),Dy~(3+) and Si4+ions occupy the corresponding sites of Sr~(2+),Ca~(2+) and P~(5+).Strong broad blue photo luminescence band is exhibited in SCPF:Eu~(2+),Dy~(3+) phosphor ranging from 400 to 550 nm centered at 455 nm and Dy~(3+) ions are vital in creating traps.Emission intensity of Eu~(2+),Dy~(3+) co-doped SCPF:0.02 Eu~(2+),0.02 Dy~(3+) is about 1.8 times that of SCPF:0.02 Eu~(2+) and electron trap centers serve as energy transporting media.To further elucidate the formation and effect of the specific defect on the luminescence of SCPF:0.02 Eu~(2+),0.02 Dy~(3+) phosphor,the thermoluminescence properties,decay curves and thermal stability studies were performed while the Si~(4+)-P~(5+) charge compensated pho sphor SCPF:0.02 Eu~(2+),0.02 Dy~(3+),0.02 Si~(4+) was prepared as a contrast.All the results of present work indicate that Dy~(3+) co-doping can obviously enhance photoluminescence intensity of SCPF:0.02 Eu~(2+) by the electron traps generated by non-equivalence replacement of Dy~(3+)-Ca~(2+).