Cation–anion substitution induced spectral tuning and thermal stability optimization in Sr2SiO4:Eu phosphors

Abstract

Spectral tuning and thermal stability are important for the optimization and modification of phosphor materials. Herein we report a solid solution of Sr₂Si_1−xAl_xO_4−2xN_x:Eu phosphors in which cation–anion substitution (Al³⁺–N³⁻ replacing Si⁴⁺–O²⁻) leads to the co-existence of Eu²⁺ and Eu³⁺ activators even under a reducing atmosphere. X-ray diffraction, FT-IR, photoluminescence analysis, UV-vis absorption and fluorescence lifetime studies indicated that the structure reconstruction contributes to tunable emission colors and better thermal quenching behavior, which are valuable for pc-WLED applications.