Photoluminescence and cathodoluminescence properties of CaLaGa3O7:Eu3+ phosphors

The CaLaGa3O7:Eu3+ phosphor was prepared by a chemical co-precipitation method. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), laser particle size analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL), and cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra were utilized to characterize the synthesized phosphor. The results revealed that the phosphor was composed of microspheres with a slight agglomerate phenomenon and was spherically shaped. The average grain size was about 1.0 μm. Eu3+ ions, as luminescent centers, substituted La3+ ions into the single crystal lattice of CaLaGa3O7 with the sites of Cs. Although the CL spectrum was greatly different from the PL spectrum, it had the strongest red emission corresponding to the 5D0 →7F2 transition of Eu3+. Under the excitation of UV light (287 nm) and electron beams (1.0–7.0 kV), the chromaticity coordinates of the phosphor were found to be in the nearly red and orange light regions, respectively.