A new promising phosphor, Na3La2(BO3)3:Ln (Ln=Eu, Tb)

We present an efficient way to search a host for ultraviolet (UV) phosphor from UV nonlinear optical (NLO) materials. With the guidance, Na3La2(BO3)3 (NLBO), as a promising NLO material with a broad transparency range and high damage threshold, was adopted as a host material for the first time. The lanthanide ions (Tb3+ and Eu3+)-doped NLBO phosphors have been synthesized by solid-state reaction. Luminescent properties of the Ln-doped (Ln=Tb3+, Eu3+) sodium lanthanum borate were investigated under UV ray excitation. The emission spectrum was employed to probe the local environments of Eu3+ ions in NLBO crystal. For red phosphor, NLBO:Eu, the measured dominating emission peak was at 613 nm, which is attributed to 5D0–7F2 transition of Eu3+. The luminescence indicates that the local symmetry of Eu3+ in NLBO crystal lattice has no inversion center. Optimum Eu3+ concentration of NLBO:Eu3+ under UV excitation with 395 nm wavelength is about 30 mol%. The green phosphor, NLBO:Tb, showed bright green emission at 543 with 252 nm excited light. The measured concentration quenching curve demonstrated that the maximum concentration of Tb3+ in NLBO was about 20%. The luminescence mechanism of Ln-doped NLBO (Tb3+ and Eu3+) was analyzed. The relative high quenching concentration was also discussed.