Full-visible-spectrum lighting enabled by site-selective occupation in the high efficient and thermal stable (Rb, K)2CaPO4F: Eu2+ solid-solution phosphors

Tuning the luminescent properties of phosphors by crystal-site engineering is a good and efficient strategy for developing high-quality white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs). However, it is still challenging to modulate the cyan to red spectral emission in a single matrix and activator phosphor to obtain multicolor output and achieve full-visible-spectrum lighting. Herein, the strategy to manipulate site-selective occupation of Eu2+ activators by substituting the cation Rb+ with K+ is reported to obtain a versatile color output. The large-scale redshift regulation of emission spectrum from cyan to red was achieved in fluor-phosphate Rb2-yKyCaPO4F: 0.0085Eu2+ (R2-yKyCPOF: 0.0085Eu2+) (0 ≤ y ≤ 1.8) phosphors, which is designed by using Rb2CaPO4F: 0.0085Eu2+ (RCPOF: 0.0085Eu2+) cyan-emitting phosphor. The redistribution of Eu2+ ions in Rb1, Rb2, and Ca sites is achieved by introducing the cation K+ to substitute Rb+, and R2-yKyCPOF: 0.0085Eu2+ (0 ≤ y ≤ 1.8) is kept in the pure phase. Furthermore, the mixed phosphors of RCPOF: 0.0085Eu2+, RKCPOF: 0.0085Eu2+, and R0.2K1.8CPOF: 0.0085Eu2+ show excellent optical performance and good thermal stability. Full-visible spectrum lighting is successfully achieved with the combination of a 395 nm NUV chip and the blend of phosphor-converted WLEDs. The K+ substitution reported in this paper can support a project for warm WLEDs by manipulating the distribution of Eu2+ activator among different cation sites.