On the enhancement of luminescence efficiency of Y2O3:Eu3+ red phosphor by incorporating (Al3+, B3+) in the host lattice

Incorporation of trace (Al3+, B3+) in Y2O3 lattice, causes an enhancement of efficiency of both 5D0 → 7F2 luminescence of Eu3+ and its excitation in Y2O3:Eu3+ red phosphor. Enhancement of excitation remains restricted around the (Eu3+–O2−) C-T band. The 5D0 → 7F2 decay characteristics and the build-up time of the 5D0 excited state of Eu3+ also change due to such incorporation, although the luminescence pattern remains unchanged. The result suggests a change in polarity of the host rather than the site symmetry of Eu3+ by the hetero-cations. Calculation of the Judd–Ofelt parameters of the 5D0 → 7F2 transition of Eu3+ gives similar results.