Photoluminescence Properties and Fabrication of Red-Emitting LEDs based on Ca9Eu(VO4)(7) Phosphor

Journal article, 2020

We study the photoluminescence properties of the red-emitting phosphor Ca9Eu(VO4)(7) and establish a strong red emission centered at 613 nm under excitation at 395 nm (near ultra violet light, near-UV light) due to the intra-configurational D-5(0) -> F-7(2) transition within the 4f(6) configuration of the Eu3+ ions. The intensity of the emitted light decreases with increasing temperature and at T = 470 K about 50% of the intensity of the emitted light at room temperature is lost. Five different red-LED prototypes were constructed by applying a mixture of Ca9Eu(VO4)(7) phosphor and silicone gel on the headers of near-UV LED chips. The prototypes showed a color output from violet for the lowest phosphor concentration (133 g phosphor /l silicone gel), reaching an almost pure red-light output for the highest phosphor concentration (670 g phosphor /l silicone gel). The luminous efficiency of optical radiation (LER) was found to decrease slightly with increasing applied current. For the highest phosphor concentration, the LER decreases from 238 lmW(-1) for 1 mA current supply to 235 lmW(-1) for 18 mA current supply. The external quantum efficiency decreased from 7.33% for the lowest phosphor containing LED prototype to 4.13% for the highest one. (C) The Author(s) 2019. Published by ECS.