Photoluminescence Properties of a Promising Red-emitting Phosphor CaNb2O6:EU3+for Trichromatic White Light Emitting Diodes Application

Motivated by the need for new phosphors of white light emitting diode (WLED) application, Ca_0.95Nb₂ O₆:Eu³⁺_0.05 phosphors were synthesized by high temperature solid‐state reaction. Increasing the content of doped‐Eu³⁺ and adding the co‐activator Bi³⁺ to improve the photoluminescence (PL) intensity of Ca_1?xNb₂ O₆Eu³⁺_x phosphors were investigated in detail. The effects of Eu³⁺ were better than that of Bi³⁺ on the PL intensity of Ca_1?xNb₂ O₆Eu³⁺_x phosphors. Compared with Y₂O₂ S:0.05Eu³⁺ the Ca_0.70Nb₂ O₆:Eu³⁺_0.03 phosphor could be excited efficiently by UV (395 nm) light and emit the red light at 614 nm with line spectra, which were coupled well with the characteristic emission from UV‐Near UV LED. The CIE (International Commission on Illumination) chromaticity coordinates (x?0.654, y?0.348) of Ca_0.70Nb₂O₆:Eu³⁺_0.03 were close to the NTSC (National Television Standard Committee) standard values. Therefore Ca_0.70Nb₂ O₆:Eu³⁺_0.03 might find application to UV‐Near UV InGaN chip‐based white light emitting diodes, which is further proved by the LED fabrication with the Ca_0.70Nb₂ O₆:Eu³⁺_0.03 phosphor.