Tunable emission from green to red in the GdSr(2)AlO(5):Tb(3+),Eu(3+) phosphor via efficient energy transfer

Herein, a series of GdSr(2)AlO(5):Tb(3+),Eu(3+) phosphors were successfully synthesized through a high temperature solid-state reaction, and their crystal structures as well as photoluminescence properties were investigated in detail. Compared to the intense emission of (5)D(0) → (7)F(1) or (5)D(0) → (7)F(2) transition of Eu(3+), another strong emission corresponding to (5)D(0) → (7)F(4) was observed. Concentration quenching is not obvious in Tb(3+) or Eu(3+)-doped GdSr(2)AlO(5) because structure isolation and energy transfer (ET) of Gd(3+) → Eu(3+) and Gd(3+) → Tb(3+) were found. Moreover, the energy transfer process from Tb(3+) to Eu(3+) was verified by the overlap of luminescence spectra and the variation of lifetime. Energy transfer mechanism was determined to be a dipole–dipole interaction, and ET efficiency as well as quantum efficiency were also obtained. Moreover, the emission color of GdSr(2)AlO(5):Tb(3+),Eu(3+) can be tuned from green to red by altering the ratio of Tb(3+)/Eu(3+). These results indicate that the GdSr(2)AlO(5):Tb(3+),Eu(3+) phosphor is a promising single-component white light-emitting phosphor.