Cation substitution and luminescence properties of Eu2+/Ga3+-codoped Na2ZrSi2O7

Abstract Eu 2+ /Ga 3+ co-doped Na 2 ZrSi 2 O 7 phosphors were prepared via a facile solid-state reaction route. The structural characteristics, photoluminescence spectra, and application performances of Na 2- x Eu x Zr 1- x Ga x Si 2 O 7 ( x = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.10) were investigated. The main motivation of Ga 3+ co-doping on Zr 4+ is to eliminate the charge imbalance created by the aliovalent substitution of Eu 2+ on Na + sites in the lattices. The results indicated that the Eu 2+ /Ga 3+ co-doped Na 2 ZrSi 2 O 7 kept a good esseneite-like structure with a triclinic space group of P-1. The phosphor presents a narrow cyan-emitting band centered at 485 nm under near-UV light excitation. The luminescence efficiency of Eu 2+ activator was significantly improved through the co-doping of Ga 3+ for Zr 4+ ions in Na 2 ZrSi 2 O 7 . The maximum luminescence absolute quantum efficiency of 43% was observed in Na 2- x Eu x Zr 1- x Ga x Si 2 O 7 (x = 0.1) under the excitation of the near-UV light. The phosphor has good thermal stability with an activation energy of 0.31 eV. To realize charge compensation via cation co-substitution could be a practical strategy to improve luminescence in Eu 2+ -activated phosphors on aliovalent sites.