Broadband emission characteristics and WLED application of self-activated YMZn3AlO7 (M=Ca, Sr, Ba) phosphors

In this study, a non-activated ion-doped full-spectrum emission phosphor for white light-emitting diode (WLED) lighting is proposed using oxygen defect engineering. The YMZn3AlO7 (M = Ca, Sr, Ba) phosphors with "114″ structure were prepared via a high-temperature solid-state reaction. Under excitation with 373 nm ultraviolet (UV) light, YSrZn3AlO7 in YMZn3AlO7 (M = Ca, Sr, Ba) exhibited the highest emission intensity and formed a wide yellow emission band centred at 563 nm. The full width at half maximum of the YSrZn3AlO7 phosphor was 172.6 nm. A theoretical model based on the designed oxygen vacancies was proposed to determine the self-activated luminescence mechanism. Density functional theory calculations revealed that oxygen vacancies lead to the generation of new energy levels. Electron paramagnetic resonance experiments further confirmed that the luminescence originated from oxygen vacancies. Eventually, a warm WLED device ((x, y) = (0.4057, 0.4359)) with a correlated color temperature of 3814 K and a relative color rendering index of 83 was successfully prepared using the YSrZn3AlO7 phosphor and a 365 nm UV LED chip. These results suggest that YSrZn3AlO7 is a promising WLED phosphor and provide new insights into the application of self-activated phosphors in WLED.