Effect of dopant concentration on luminescence properties of Ba3(PO4)2:RE (RE= Sm3+, Eu3+, Dy3+) phosphor for solid-state lighting

Wet chemical synthesis was used for the first time to make Ba3(PO4)2: RE (RE= Sm3+, Eu3+, Dy3+) phosphors. The phosphor X-ray diffraction (XRD), structural and photoluminescence characteristics were thoroughly investigated. Under UV excitation 402 nm, the emission spectra of the Ba3(PO4)2:Sm3+ phosphors consists emission peaks at 561 nm (yellow) and 598 nm (orange), respectively. When the Ba3(PO4)2:Eu3+ phosphor was excited at 394 nm, the emission spectra exhibited prominent bands at 593 nm (orange) and 614 nm (red). The emission wavelengths of Ba3(PO4)2:Dy3+ phosphor were 474 nm (blue) and 573 nm (yellow), respectively. According to the photoluminescence results, Ba3(PO4)2:RE (RE = Sm3+, Eu3+ and Dy3+) phosphors might be useful in the fields of near UV-excited solid state lighting.