Energy transfer between Ce and Sm co-doped YAG nanocrystals for white light emitting devices

Abstract

This work reports on the optical response of Ce and Sm co-doped in YAG nanocrystals prepared by co-precipitation method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) evidenced the preparation of (Ce, Sm) co-doped YAG nanocrystals. The photoluminescence (PL) and the photoluminescence excitation (PLE) were used to characterize the optical response and the energy transfer mechanism. It is found that energy transfer from Ce to Sm is achieved efficiently via certain excitation wavelengths. Tuning between the spectral features of Ce and Sm is obtained and discussed in light of spectral overlapping between the excitation states in both ions. These findings indicate the promising potential of the prepared phosphor in enhancing the color quality of white light emitting diodes.