Preparation of BaMgAl10O17:Eu blue phosphor by flame-assisted spray pyrolysis:: photoluminescence properties of powder and film under VUV excitation

Flame-assisted spray pyrolysis was applied to prepare BaMgAl10O17:Eu (BAM) blue phosphor particles with spherical shape, which exhibited improved photoluminescence characteristics under vacuum ultraviolet (147 nm) excitation. It was found that simply controlling the property of the precursor solution to be sprayed was helpful to suppress the formation of hollow structure and made it possible to produce dense and spherical-shaped BAM particles by using the flame-assisted spray pyrolysis process. The film of prepared BAM powder was built up on slide glass. Then, the prepared spherical particles produced not only better uniform surface, but also higher particle density in comparison with the commercial BAM particles which have irregular shape. The photoluminescence intensity of the spherical-shaped BAM particles prepared by the flame-assisted spray pyrolysis was lower than that of the commercial powder. The phosphor film made from BAM particles with fine size and spherical shape, however, showed higher photoluminescence intensity than that prepared with the irregular-shaped commercial particles due to higher particle density and uniformity of the film. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.