Preparation and photoluminescence of GdVO4:Tm3+ blue phosphor for plant lighting

Blue fluorescent materials play an important role in the manufacture of white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs) for plant lighting excited by near-ultraviolet (NUV) chips. In this article, Tm3+ ions were doped into GdVO4 matrix to obtain stronger blue light emission. The phase structure, apparent morphology, and luminescence properties of the prepared samples were characterized and analyzed by x-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and fluorescence spectrometry. The results showed that GdVO4:Tm3+ blue phosphor could be prepared by the high-temperature solid-phase calcination method at 1100 °C within 2 h. The powder had an approximately spherical shape of about 2 μm, and the excitation and emission peaks were detected at 319 nm in the ultraviolet region and 480 nm in the blue region, respectively. The prepared GdVO4:Tm3+ blue phosphor and a 310 nm deep-ultraviolet chip were successfully assembled to manufacture a WLED device. It is expected that the blue phosphor prepared in this study can be used to assemble WLED devices to obtain efficient lighting.