Versatile phosphors BaY2Si3O10:RE (RE = Ce3+, Tb3+, Eu3+) for light-emitting diodes

Rare-earth-activated BaY2Si3O10 (BYSO) phosphors were synthesized via a solid-state reaction. BaY2Si3O10:Ce3+ yields an indigo-blue emission peak at 404 nm according to excitation at 334 nm attributed to the Ce3+ 4f -> 5d transition. BaY2Si3O10:Tb3+ typically generates green emission peaks resulting from the D-5(4)-> F-7(J) transition. BaY2Si3O10:Eu3+ exhibits red emission peaks upon excitation at 393 nm. The quantum efficiency of these phosphors was found to be 53%, 55%, and 63% of commodity. The results in this work demonstrate that these phosphors with new compositions are good candidate luminescent materials for use in plasma display panels and light-emitting diodes, excited from VUV to UV. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America