Citric based sol-gel synthesis and photoluminescence properties of un-doped and Sm3+ doped Ca3Y2Si3O12 phosphors

The photoluminescent properties of un-doped and Sm3+ doped Ca3Y2Si3O12 phosphors were prepared by the citrate sol-gel method. Un-doped sample has shown a strong blue emission, which has its maximum intensity at 389 nm. Among all the observed emission transitions 4G(5/2)-> H-6(J) (J = 5/2, 7/2 & 9/2) of Sm3+, the reddish-orange (RO) emission transition 4G(5/2)-> H-6(7/2) is more prominent, which matches well with the emission wavelength of near UV (n-UV) LED. The reasons for the observance of such prominent visible color emissions from these phosphors have been substantiated appropriately. Besides, structural details of these samples have also been analyzed from the measured XRD, TEM, TG-DTA and FTIR profiles. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. All rights reserved.