Photoluminescence properties of a Ce(3+) doped Sr(3)MgSi(2)O(8) phosphor with good thermal stability

This study mainly reports an investigation about the crystal structure and photoluminescence properties of a Ce(3+) doped alkaline earth metal silicate Sr(3)MgSi(2)O(8). X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and structure refinement methods are adopted to characterize the phase composition and crystal structure. The excitation/emission spectra and diffuse reflection spectra (DRS) of the title phosphor are measured and the mechanism of concentration quenching as well as thermal quenching are discussed in detail. Results show that the concentration quenching in Sr(3)MgSi(2)O(8) is due to dipole–dipole interaction energy transfer between Ce(3+) ions. The title phosphor has an excellent thermal stability with 90% emission intensity reserve when the temperature rises to 150 °C. The related mechanism is considered to be the thermal ionization effect and an energy level diagram was proposed to show the thermal ionization process.