Synthesis and optical properties of T_2.9Al₅O₁₂:0.1Ce³⁺ phosphor film from facile sol-gel technology

Transparent and homogenous T_2.9Al₅O₁₂:0.1Ce³⁺(TAG:Ce³⁺) phosphor film with thickness of 5 μm and nano-crystalline particles about 60 nm was firstly synthesized by sol-gel technology via 40 layers deposition, which introduced the nitrates combustion process into the conventional sol-gel method using terbium, cerium, aluminum nitrates as precursors, glycine and urea as fuel. The as-synthesized TAG:Ce³⁺phosphor film exhibited good optical properties with strong absorption in the ultraviolet-light and blue-light range, and considerable photoluminescence performances, which displayed a broad emission peak centered at 551 nm with a quantum yield (QY) of 49% under 457 nm excitation and an enlarged full width of about 10 nm at the half maximum as well as a red-shifted emission of about 19 nm, in contrast to the commercial YAG:Ce³⁺phosphor tested, which would be suitable for application in solid-state devices such as WLEDs and display systems.