Synthesis and Luminescence Properties of Sr/SmSi5N8:Eu2+ Phosphor for White Light-Emitting-Diode

Red-emitting nitride phosphors recently attracted considerable attention because of their high thermal stability and high color rendering index properties. For excellent phosphor of white light-emitting-diode, ternary nitride phosphor of $Sr/SmSi_5N_8:Eu^{2+}$ with different $Eu^{2+}$ ion concentration were synthesized by solid state reaction method. In this work, red-emitting nitride $Sr/SmSi_5N_8:Eu^{2+}$ phosphor was successfully synthesized by using multi-step high frequency induction heat treatment. The effects of molar ratio of component and experimental conditions on luminescence property of prepared phosphors have been investigated. The structure and luminescence properties of prepared $Sr/SmSi_5N_8:Eu^{2+}$ phosphors were investigated by XRD and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The excitation spectra of $Sr/SmSi_5N_8:Eu^{2+}$ phosphors indicated broad excitation wavelength range of 300 - 550 nm, namely from UV to visible area with distinct enhanced emission peaks. With an increase of $Eu^{2+}$ ion concentration, the peak position of emission in spectra was red-shifted from 613 to 671 nm. After via multi-step heat treatment, prepared phosphor showed excellent luminescence properties, such as high emission intensity and low thermal quenching, better than commercial phosphor of $Y_3Al_5O_{12}:Ce^{3+}$. Using $Eu_2O_3$ as a raw material for $Eu^{2+}$ dopant with nitrogen gas flowing instead of using commercial EuN chemical for $Sr/SmSi_5N_8:Eu^{2+}$ synthesis is one of characteristic of this work.