Energy transfer and enriched emission spectrum in Cr and Ce co-doped Y3Al5O12 yellow phosphors

Ce/Cr co-doped Y3Al5O12 (Ce/Cr:YAG) exhibits enriched emission spectrum in the red region due to a non-radiative energy transfer from the Ce3+(2E) level to Cr3+(4T) level. Excitation spectra collected at Cr3+ red emission show an intense excitation broad band at 458 nm confirming the energy transfer, which is responsible for the two orders of magnitude increase in the intensity of the red emission compared to YAG doped with Cr alone. The huge increase in the Cr red emission in Ce/Cr:YAG compared to Cr:YAG suggests that the former is an efficient red and yellow phosphor and has potential in white LEDs and laser applications.