Luminescence of and Doped Potassium Tungstate Phosphor

The luminescent properties of $Eu^{3+}$ and $Sm^{3+}$ doped potassium tungstate phosphor are investigated. The $K_{4-3x}(WO_4)_2:Eu^{3+}\;_x,Sm^{3+}\;_y$ phosphor is produced by firing the mixed precursors, followed by re-firing with a flux. The re-firing process results in the defect-free surface and uniform growth of the particles. The strong absorption in the region of ultra violet light is observed due to the 4f-4f electron transitions of the $Eu^{3+}$ and $Sm^{3+}$ ions. The doping concentration of europium into potassium tungstate is relatively high, compared to other host materials. It is revealed that the crystal structure is a monoclinic with space group, C2/c. This crystal structure facilitated the $Eu^{3+}$ ions to be located with the Eu-Eu distance larger than 5 ${\AA}$ so that concentration quenching does not occur even at high doping concentration. The excitation spectrum could be adjusted by the introduction of the samarium. A small amount of the $Sm^{3+}$ ions that acts as a sensitizer increases the energy absorption peak around 405 nm.