Cyan emitting Ca3Sc2Si1.5Ge1.5O12:Ce3+ phosphor with 10.4 ns lifetime

Synthesis and photoluminescence properties of Ca3Sc2Si1.5Ge1.5O12:Ce3+ phosphor are described and compared with that of Ca3Sc2Si3O12:Ce3+. Partial replacement of Si by Ge, produces interesting changes in luminescence properties of Ca3Sc2Si3O12:Ce3+. Emission maximum shifts from 510 to 485 nm and that of excitation from 450 to 428 nm. The blue shifts are attributable to the splitting of Ce3+ 5d levels by crystal field. Centroid shift also contributes to these shifts. Cyan emitting phosphor, in combination with other phosphors, can be useful for generating true white spectrum. Moreover, lifetime of Ca3Sc2Si1.5Ge1.5O12:Ce3+ phosphor is very short, 10.4 ns, as compared to 62.7 for Ca3Sc2Si3O12:Ce3+. Short lifetime makes Ca3Sc2Si1.5Ge1.5O12:Ce3+ suitable for applications like scintillator, time of flight camera, etc.