An Investigation on Luminescence and Energy Transfer of Ce3+ and Tb3+ in Ca3Y2Si3O12 Phosphors

The present investigation aims to demonstrate the potentiality of Ca(3)Y(2)Si(3)O(12) doped with Ce(3+) and Tb(3+) along with Tb(3+) and Ce(3+) co-doped phosphors, which are prepared by a sol-gel method. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra revealed a brighter and broader violet-blue emission from the Ce(3+) [5d((2)D) -> (2)F(5/2,7/2)] and an intense sharp green emission (545 nm) from the Tb(3+) ((5)D(4) -> (7)F(5)) doped phosphors. For Tb(3+) and Ce(3+) co-doped phosphors, a strong green emission ((5)D(4) -> (7)F(5)) was observed upon excitation with a UV wavelength (242 nm). An energy transfer phenomenon from Ce(3+) to Tb(3+) was observed in these co-doped nanocrystalline phosphors. It was also observed that their PL intensity depends on the doping concentration of Ce(3+), while the concentration of Tb(3+) is fixed. The mechanism involved in the energy transfer between Ce(3+) and Tb(3+) was explained with an energy level diagram. For these phosphors, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy were carried out to understand their structural properties. (C) 2009 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI:10.1149/1.3215985] All rights reserved.