New red phosphors BaZr(BO3)2 and SrAl2B2O7 doped with Eu3+ for PDP applications

Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) excitation and photoluminescence (PL) characteristics of Eu3+ ion doped borate phosphors; BaZr(BO3)2:Eu3+ and SrAl2B2O7:Eu3+ are studied. The excitation spectra show strong absorption in the VUV region with the absorption band edge at ca. 200 nm for BaZr(BO3)2:Eu3+ and 183 nm for SrAl2B2O7:Eu3+, respectively, which ensures the efficient absorption of the Xe plasma emission lines. In BaZr(BO3)2:Eu3+, the charge transfer band of Eu3+ does not appear strongly in the excitation spectrum, which can be enhanced by co-doping Al3+ ion into the BaZr(BO3)2 lattices. The luminescence intensity of BaZr(BO3)2:Eu3+ is also increased by Al3+ incorporation into the lattices. The PL spectra show the strongest emission at 615 nm corresponding to the electric dipole 5D0→7F2 transition of Eu3+ in both BaZr(BO3)2 and SrAl2B2O7, similar to that in YAl3(BO3)4, which results in a good color purity for display applications.