Eu/Tb ions co-doped white light luminescence Y2O3 phosphors

Y2O3:Eu3+, Tb3+ phosphors with white emission are prepared with different doping concentration of Eu3+ and Tb3+ ions and synthesizing temperatures from 750 to 950 °C by the co-precipitation method. The resulted phosphors were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The results of XRD indicate that the crystallinity of the synthesized samples increases with enhancing the firing temperature. The photoluminescence spectra indicate the Eu3+ and Tb3+ co-doped Y2O3 phosphors show five main emission peaks: three at 590, 611 and 629 nm originate from Eu3+ and two at 481 and 541 nm originate from Tb3+, under excitation of 250–320 nm irradition. The white light luminescence color could be changed by varying the excitation wavelength. Different concentrations of Eu3+ and Tb3+ ions were induced into the Y2O3 lattice and the energy transfer from Tb3+→Eu3+ ions in these phosphors was found. The Commission International de l’Eclairage (CIE) chromaticity shows that the Y2O3:Eu3+, Tb3+ phosphors can obtain an intense white emission.