Luminescence and Spectroscopic Properties of Yellow-Emitting Carbonitride Phosphors and Their Application in White LEDs

A series of yellow-emitting carbonitride phosphors with compositions of (Y(1-x)Ce(x))(2)(CN(2))(3) (x = 0-0.1) was synthesized by using exothermic solid-state metathesis reactions. The wavelength of the broad band yellow emission was tunable, varying from 570 to 577 nm. The photoluminescence (PL) intensity enhanced with increasing Ce(3+) dopant content and was optimized at 3 mol % under excitation at 415 nm. We analyzed the 5d energy levels of Ce(3+) in a capped trigonal prismatic complex and estimated the vibronic coupling parameters and Stokes shifts. To understand the thermal quenching behavior, the temperature-dependent PL for (Y(1.97)Ce(0.03))(2)(CN(2))(3) was investigated. To demonstrate its potential application, we fabricated a warm white light-emitting diode (LED) using (Y(1.97)Ce(0.03))(2)(CN(2))(3), pumped with a 420 nm GaInN LED chip, and the electroluminescence data were also presented. (C) 2010 The Electrochemical Society. [DOI: 10.1149/1.3476307] All rights reserved.