Ba2B2O5:Ce3+: A novel blue emitting phosphor for white LEDs

A novel blue emitting phosphor Ba2B2O5:Ce3+ is synthesized by a high temperature solid state method. The luminescent property and the thermal stability of Ba2B2O5:Ce3+ are investigated. Under the 350 nm radiation excitation, Ba2B2O5:Ce3+ has a broad blue emission band, and the peak locates at 417 nm which is assigned to the 5d1–4f1 transition of Ce3+. It is further proved that the dipole–dipole interaction results in the concentration quenching of Ce3+ in Ba2B2O5:Ce3+. When the temperature turned up to 150 °C, the emission intensity of Ba1.97B2O5:0.03Ce3+ is 63.4% of the initial value at room temperature. The activation energy ΔE is calculated to be 0.25 eV, which prove the good thermal stability of Ba2B2O5:Ce3+. All the properties indicate that Ba2B2O5:Ce3+ may have potential application in white LEDs.