Strong Energy-Transfer-Induced Enhancement of Luminescence Efficiency of Eu(2+)- and Mn(2+)-Codoped Gamma-AlON for Near-UV-LED-Pumped Solid State Lighting.

A series of Eu(2+)- and Mn(2+)-codoped γ-AlON (Al1.7O2.1N0.3) phosphors was synthesized at 1800 °C under 0.5 MPa N2 by using the gas-pressure sintering method (GPS). Eu(2+) and Mn(2+) ions were proved to enter into γ-AlON host lattice by means of XRD, CL, and EDS measurements. Under 365 nm excitation, two emission peaks located at 472 and 517 nm, resulting from 4f(6)5d(1) → 4f(7) and (4)T1(4G) → (6)A1 electron transitions of Eu(2+) and Mn(2+), respectively, can be observed. Energy transfer from Eu(2+) to Mn(2+) was evidenced by directly observing appreciable overlap between the excitation spectrum of Mn(2+) and the emission spectrum of Eu(2+) as well as by the decreased decay time of Eu(2+) with increasing Mn(2+) concentration. The critical energy-transfer distance between Eu(2+) and Mn(2+) and the energy-transfer efficiency were also calculated. The mechanism of energy transfer was identified as a resonant type via a dipole-dipole mechanism. The external quantum efficiency was increased 7 times (from 7% for γ-AlON:Mn(2+) to 49% for γ-AlON:Mn(2+),Eu(2+) under 365 nm excitation), and color-tunable emissions from blue-green to green-yellow were also realized with the Eu(2+) → Mn(2+) energy transfer in γ-AlON.