The role of calcination temperature on structural and luminescence behaviour of novel apatite-based Ca2Y 8(SiO4)6O2: Ce3+,Tb3+ phosphors

A series of novel apatite-based Ca2Y8(SiO4)6O2 phosphors doped with Ce3+ and Tb3+ were synthesized by a solid-state reaction method at different calcination temperatures and times. The comparative results of thermal analysis (TG-DTA), FTIR, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) reveal that the firing temperature for Ca 2Y 8 (SiO4)6O2:Ce3+, Tb3+ was optimized to be 1200 °C. The systematic studies on the influences of thermal treatment conditions on photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) properties were also reported. The excitation spectra of Ca2Y8(SiO4)6O2:Ce3+, Tb3+exhibited one strong excitation band at 325 nm. The PL and CL results indicated that the violet-blue emission intensities about 400 nm from the Ce3+ and efficient green emission at 544 nm from Tb3+ were highly dependent on the calcination conditions.Peer Reviewe