New Y2BaAl4SiO12:Ce3+ yellow microcrystal-glass powder phosphor with high thermal emission stability

摘要

To decrease the rare earth element usage and synthesis cost of Y3Al5O12:Ce phosphor, the Y2BaAl4SiO12 compound is developed as a new host for Ce3+ employing the solid solution design strategy. The design uses polyhedron substitution where YO8/AlO4 are partially replaced by BaO8/SiO4, respectively. Structure analysis of Y2BaAl4SiO12 proves that it successfully preserves the garnet structure, crystallizing in the cubic Ia (3) over bard space group with a = b = c = 12.00680(5) angstrom. Barium (Ba) atoms occupy the Y site and silicon (Si) atoms occupy the Al site in the AlO4 tetrahedrons. An expanded study on Y2MAl4SiO12 (M = Ba, Ca, Mg, Sr) series shows a cation size (of M)-dependent phase formation behavior. The lattice stability can be related with the M type in the M-Si pair and substitution level of M-Si for Y-Al. Doping Ce3+ into Y2BaAl4SiO12 yields bright yellow photoluminescence peaking at around 537 nm upon excitation by 460 nm light. The emission intensity is quite stable against thermal quenching whereas the peak wavelength shows a slight red-shift as the ambient temperature increases. The crystallization behavior of Y2BaAl4SiO12 is suggested as melt-assisted precipitation/growth based on cathodoluminescence analysis. The highly crystalline nature of the microcrystals explains the stable emission against thermal quenching. This study may provide an inspiring insight into preparing phosphor with new morphology-structure of "microcrystal-glass powder phosphor'', which distinguishes it from conventional "ceramic powder phosphor'' or "single-crystal phosphor''.