Narrow-Band Red-Emitting Phosphors with High Color Purity, Trifling Thermal and Concentration Quenching for Hybrid White LEDs and Li3Y3BaSr(MoO4)8:Sm3+, Eu3+-Based Deep-Red LEDs for Plant Growth Applications.

Trivalent europium-based monochromatic red light-emitting phosphors are an essential component to realize high-performance smart lighting devices; however, the concentration and thermal quenching restrict their usage. Here, we report a series of efficient Eu3+-substituted Li3Y3BaSr(MoO4)8 red-emitting phosphors based on a stratified scheelite structure with negligible concentration and thermal quenching. All of the host and phosphor compositions crystallize in monoclinic crystal structure (space group C2/c). All of the phosphor compositions produce narrow-band red emission (FWHM ∼6 nm), which is highly apparent to the human eyes, and lead to exceptional chromatic saturation of the red spectral window. Concurrently, detailed investigations were carried out to comprehend the concentration and thermal quenching mechanism. Absolute quantum yields as high as 88.5% were obtained for Li3Y0.3Eu2.7BaSr(MoO4)8 phosphor with virtuous thermal stability (at 400 K, retaining 87% of its emission intensity). The light-emitting diodes were constructed by coupling Li3BaSrY0.3Eu2.7(MoO4)8 red phosphor with a near-UV LED chip (395 nm) operated at 20 mA forward bias, and the hybrid white LED (an organic yellow dye + red Li3Y3BaSr(MoO4)8:Eu3+ phosphor integrated with an NUV LED chip) showed a low CCT (6645 K), high CRI (83) values, and CIE values of x = 0.303; y = 0.368, which indicated that the synthesized phosphors can be a suitable red component for white LEDs. In addition, we have systematically investigated the Sm3+ and Sm3+, Eu3+ activation in Li3Y3BaSr(MoO4)8 to display the latent use of the system in plant growth applications and establish that the phosphor exhibits orange red emission with an intense deep-red emission (645 nm (4G5/2 → 6H9/2)). The phytochrome (Pr) absorption spectrum well matched the fabricated deep-red LED (by integrating a NUV LED + Li3Y3BaSr(MoO4)8:Sm3+ and Eu3+ phosphor) spectral lines.

Efficient and ultra-thermally stable Eu3+ and Sm3+-activated narrow-band red/deep red-emitting phosphors and their versatile applications.

A succession of Eu3+-activated Na2Y4(WO4)7 (NYW) red phosphors were synthesised and their optical properties were studied in detail for white LED, latent fingerprint and plant growth applications. The phosphors crystallised in a tetragonal system with space group I41/a. The NYW:Eu3+ red phosphors demonstrated a line-like emission at 616 nm owing to electric dipole transition, and a systematic concentration-dependent PL study revealed that concentration quenching occurs at x = 1.8 with a color purity of 96.06%. The thermal stability and internal quantum efficiency of the phosphor were found to be ∼75.54% (at 423 K) and 88%, respectively. Furthermore, solid solution phosphors were synthesized to increase QE, which was found to be 91.27%. Specifically, the hybrid white LED exhibits warm white light with high CRI (80) and low CCT (5730 K) values, and these values are further improved (CRI-81, CCT-4274 K) when the WLED is fabricated using the most efficient solid solution phosphor Na2Y2.2Eu1.8(WO4)3(MoO4)4. The currently synthesized phosphors can be potential candidates for security applications. The selected phosphor compositions can be used for the detection of latent fingerprints. Besides, a succession of Eu3+ and Sm3+ co-doped phosphors were synthesized and their photophysical properties were studied systematically. The deep red LED was fabricated using the same and this could be a possible light source for plant growth usage.

Narrow-band red-emitting phosphor with negligible concentration quenching for hybrid white LEDs and plant growth applications.

Narrow-band red-emitters are the key to solving problems encountered by the current white LED technology. In this context, a series of new red-emitting Li3BaSrLa3(MoO4)8:Eu3+ phosphors were synthesized and characterized through various spectroscopic methods. All phosphor compositions were crystallized in the monoclinic phase, with space group C2/c. A broad charge transfer (O2-→ Mo6+) extended up to the blue region along with strong 7F0→5L6, 5D3 absorption, making them looked-for materials for warm white LED applications. The concentration quenching study reveals that there was no concentration-quenching occuring and the quantum yield of this non-concentration-quenching Li3BaSrLa0.3Eu2.7(MoO4)8 phosphor reaches 92.6%. The Li3BaSrLa0.3Eu2.7(MoO4)8 retain >80% of its emission intensity at 150 °C. The best red-emitting composition was integrated with near UV LED and obtained bright red emission with CIE x = 0.6647, y = 0.3357. White LED was fabricated by integrating the blue LED with yellow dye + red phosphor and white LED showed bright white light with CCT (5546 K), CIE (0.331, 0.385), and CRI (81%). In addition, the red LED spectrum is well-matched with the phytochrome (Pr) absorption spectrum and is useful for plant growth applications.

Zero-concentration quenching: a novel Eu3+ based red phosphor with non-layered crystal structure for white LEDs and NaSrY(MoO4)3:Sm3+ based deep-red LEDs for plant growth.

Oxide based highly efficient narrow band red emitting phosphors are still a bottleneck in white LED applications. Trivalent europium ion based phosphors could be a better choice, however their weak oscillator strength restricts their use in white light emitting diodes (LEDs). Herein, we report a novel red emitting NaSrEu(MoO4)3 (NSEuM) phosphor with zero concentration quenching (non-layered crystal structure). The phosphors (NaSrY1-xEux(MoO4)3, x = 0.1-1, in increments of 0.1) were synthesized through a traditional solid-state reaction and their phase formations were analyzed by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) followed by Rietveld refinement. Under 395 nm excitation, all the phosphors showed sharp emission at 616 nm (full width at half maximum, FWHM ∼4-5 nm) owing to the 5D0→7F2 electric dipole transition of the Eu3+ ion. A concentration dependent photoluminescence (PL) study revealed that there is no concentration quenching of the systems, leading to them having superior emission characteristics over those of commercial red phosphors as well as a reported Eu3+ phosphor with a layered structure. The color purity of the synthesized phosphor was observed to be 96.32% and it shows excellent thermal stability at 423 K, retaining 64.6% of the emission intensity of its initial room temperature. The NSEuM phosphor shows a high absolute quantum yield of 79.7%. Besides this, a red LED (near UV (NUV) LED chip with the NaSrEu(MoO4)3 phosphor) as well as a hybrid white LED (NUV LED chip with an organic yellow dye + red NSEuM phosphor) were fabricated and their optical properties were studied. After the inclusion of the red phosphor in the hybrid white LED, the color rendering index (CRI)/correlated color temperature (CCT) were improved significantly (60/9333 K vs. 79/6004 K, respectively). In addition, to show the potential use of the system in plant growth application, we systematically investigated the Sm3+ activation in NaSrY(MoO4)3 and found that the phosphor shows orange red emission with an intense deep red emission (645 nm (4G5/2→6H9/2)). We fabricated a hybrid red/deep red LED by integrating a NUV LED with a mixed Sm3+ and Eu3+ phosphor and the spectral lines were well matched with the phytochrome (Pr) absorption spectrum. The presently investigated phosphor showed potential in a white LED as well as a deep red/orange-red LED for plant growth.