An insight into the luminescence properties of Ce3+ in garnet structured CaY2Al4SiO12:Ce3+ phosphor

In this study, CaY2Al4SiO12:xCe(3+) (0.01 <= x <= 0.11) phosphors were prepared by using the sol-gel method. The crystal structure, morphology, and luminescence properties were well studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-vis, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The XRD patterns revealed that the CaY2Al4SiO12:xCe(3+) (0.01 <= x <= 0.11) phosphors formed a cubic crystal structure with Ia3d space group, and a = b = c = 12.0089 lattice parameters. The band gap and the particle size of the prepared phosphors, estimated from the UV-vis spectrum and SEM micrograph, were found to be 3.35 eV and (30-100) nm, respectively. The phosphors showed an intense green emission band upon 449 nm excitation with the average color purity value of around 79 %. It is expected that the CaY2Al4SiO12:xCe(3+) (0.01 <= x <= 0.11) phosphors can be used as a green component in the WLEDs application.