Enhanced luminescent properties of Y3Al5O12:Tb3+,Ce3+ phosphor prepared by spray pyrolysis

Yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) particles doped with Tb3+ or double doped with Tb3+ and Ce3+ were prepared by spray pyrolysis and characterized by photo- and cathode-luminescence. It was tried to incorporate a broad band of Ce3+ activator into the line peaks of Tb3+ in YAG host without the reduction of emission intensity. Ce-codoped YAG:Tb particles showed a broad band emission due to the d–f transition of Ce3+ and a reduction in the intensity of emission peaks due to 5D3–7Fj (j=3, 4, 5, 6) transition of Tb3+ when they were excited by the ultraviolet light of 270 nm. These results supported that an effective energy transfer occurs from Tb3+ to Ce3+ in YAG host. Codoping Ce3+ ions greatly intensified the excitation peak at 270 nm for the emission at 540 nm of Tb3+, which means that more lattice defects, involving in the energy absorption and transfer to Tb3+, are formed by the Ce3+ codoping. The finding gives a promising approach for enhancing the luminescence efficiency.