Decay Behavior in Ce3+-Doped La3Si6N11 and Lu3Al5O12 Phosphors

Ce3+-activated light emitting diode (LED) phosphors have been extensively examined for photoluminescence, and have been the focus of many detailed structural studies. However, reports of the decay curves of Ce3+-activated LED phosphors are rare. Although we have reported the decay behaviors of several Eu2+-activated LED phosphors such as Sr2SiO4, Sr2Si5N8, and CaAlSiN3, we have never conducted an in-depth study into the decay behavior for Ce3+-activated LED phosphors. For this study, we investigated the decay curves of well-known Ce3+-activated LED phosphors such as La3Si6N11 and Lu3Al5O12. Similar to Eu2+-activated LED phosphors, the decay behavior of Ce3+-activated LED phosphors was sensitive to the Ce3+ concentration and to the detection wavelength. There was active nonradiative energy transfer between the Ce3+ activators located at different sites.