Luminescence properties of europium ions-doped yttrium silicate (Y2SiO5:Eu3+) nanocrystalline phosphors: effect of Eu3+ ion concentration and thermal annealing.

The trivalent europium ions-doped yttrium silicate (Y2SiO5:Eu3+) nanocrystalline phosphors were synthesized via a sol-gel method, followed by post thermal annealing. The effects of thermal annealing temperature and doping concentration on the structural and luminescent properties of Y2SiO5:Eu3+ nanocrystalline phosphors were systematically investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and photoluminescence measurements. The nanocrystalline phosphors with a high crystallinity were obtained at an annealing temperature of 1300 degrees C. The luminescent spectra were affected strongly by the Eu3+ ion concentration and annealing temperature. The Eu3+ ion concentration was optimized at 5 mol%, exhibiting excellent red emission (-612 nm) corresponding to the 5D0 --> 7F2 transition of Eu3+ ions at the excitation wavelengths of 262 and 396 nm. For the optimized Y2SiO5:Eu3+ nanocrystalline phosphors, the lifetimes were also estimated from the decay curves under the ultraviolet excitations.