Tunable luminescence of Ce3+/Mn2+-coactivated Sr3Gd(PO4)3 with efficient energy transfer for white-light-emitting diode

A series of new luminescent emission-tunable phosphors Sr3Gd(PO4)3(SGP):0.006Ce3+, xMn2+ have been synthesized by a high-temperature solid-state reaction. The energy transfer from Ce3+ to Mn2+ in SGP:Ce3+/Mn2+ phosphors has been validated and demonstrated to be a resonant type via a dipole–quadrupole mechanism based on the decay lifetime data, and the critical distance (RC) calculated by quenching concentration method and spectral overlap method are 25.24 and 24.26 Å, respectively. Tuning the Ce3+/Mn2+ ratio via the energy transfer varied the emission hue of from blue to white-light and eventually to yellow. These results indicate that the developed phosphor may be promising as a single-component white-light-emitting phosphor for white LEDs.