Luminescence properties of reddish orange emitting BaLa2ZnO5:Sm3+ phosphor prepared by citric based sol-gel synthesis

A series of BaLa2ZnO5:Sm3+ phosphors were synthesized with the sol-gel technique. The crystalline structure of each sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Phase formation was investigated using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Photoluminescence studies revealed an efficient excitation of phosphors at near blue light (similar to 410 nm), providing emission in the bright reddish-orange region (603 nm). Concentration quenching through multipolar interaction was observed in BaLa2ZnO5 phosphor system doped with 0.015 mol of Sm3+ concentration. The optimum phosphor showed prominent characteristics for application in white LEDs.