Tunable emission via dual-site occupancy in Ba2CaB2Si4O14: Bi3+, Sm3+ phosphors

Through site selective substitution engineering, the (Ba2Ca)1−2x/3BixB2Si4O14(BCBSO: xBi3+) phosphors were prepared by high-temperature solid-phase synthesis. BCBSO: xBi3+ phosphors show two obvious emission peaks at 330 and 500 nm, which are derived from the Bi3+ ions occupying Ba and Ca sites, respectively. The emission of the BCBSO: xBi3+ phosphors is tunable by varying the Bi3+ content. Through XRD and XPS, the crystal structure and element composition of the samples have been determined. The emission and decay curves confirm that the two emissions come from different luminescent centers. The two emission bands of the BCBSO: Bi3+ phosphor have distinctive thermal responses to temperatures. The Sm3+ ion activated BCBSO phosphor has a bright emission mainly at 601 nm. The temperature-dependent emission of BCBSO: 0.08Bi3+, 0.1Sm3+ indicates an optical thermometer which is designed with high relative sensitivity at 510 K (Sr = 2.3206% K–1).