Preparation of Eu2+-doped AlN phosphors by plasma activated sintering

Eu2+-doped AlN phosphors were prepared by plasma activated sintering at 1600–1850 °C for 5 min and using AlN, SiC, and Eu2O3 as starting materials. The effect of Si concentration on the phase purity and photoluminescence (PL) properties of the prepared phosphors was investigated. The doping of Si from SiC favored the formation of pure wurtzite-type AlN phase and doping of Eu2+ into the AlN lattice. The prepared AlN:Eu2+ phosphors exhibited a strong blue emission at 465 nm under the excitation at 330 nm when Si was doped. The highest PL intensity was achieved when the phosphors were sintered at 1800 °C.