The generation of energy transfer from Ce3+ to Eu3+ in LaPO4:Ce3+/Tb3+/Eu3+ phosphors

A series of LaPO4:Ce3+/Tb3+/Eu3+ phosphors were synthesized by a co-precipitation method. The phase, microstructure and luminescence of the synthesized phosphors were investigated. In LaPO4:Ce3+/Tb3+/Eu3+ phosphors with fixed Ce3+ and Eu3+ concentrations, the Tb3+ concentration has clear influence on emission intensities of Ce3+, Tb3+ and Eu3+. The Tb3+ plays a key role for the energy transfer bridge to connect the Ce3+ and Eu3+ ion pairs. Due to the energy transfer from Ce3+ to Eu3+ through Tb3+, tunable luminescence was obtained for LaPO4:Ce3+/Tb3+/Eu3+ phosphors by changing Tb3+ concentration.