Luminescence characteristics of single-phase white-emitting phosphor Sr₂CeO₄:Eu³⁺

A series of (Sr_{1 − x}Eu_x)₂CeO₄ (x = 0, 0.001, 0.003, 0.005, 0.007, 0.009, 0.01, 0.013 and 0.015) single- phase phosphors have been successfully prepared by solid-state reaction method. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), photoluminescence (PL), diffuse reflection, fluorescence decay curves, CIE color coordinates and Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) were used to characterize the prepared phosphors. With the increasing amount of Eu³⁺, the intensity of the wide blue emission band centered at 475 nm decreased gradually, and the intensity of the sharp peaks of Eu³⁺ at 615 nm (⁵D₀–⁷F₂) and 585 nm (⁵D₀–⁷F₁) increased gradually at the same time. The influence of Eu³⁺ concentrations on the properties of the phosphor was discussed. The optimized composition was determined to be (Sr_0.99Eu_0.01)₂CeO₄. In addition, the band gap and decay curves of the phosphors were investigated to explore the relationship between the intensity and the content of Eu³⁺. The enhanced luminescence intensity and good white chromaticity coordinate value of the phosphor are conducive to improve application in the field of white light-emitting diodes (W-LEDs).