To achieve tunable-color emission in a novel tri-doped phosphate sulfate phosphor: Tb3+ as the energy transfer bridge

Ce3+-Tb3+-Eu3+ triply doped Ba3KPO4(SO4)(2) phosphors were synthesized and extensively studied. The luminescence properties, concentration effect and energy transfer (ET) mechanism of phosphors were studied in detail using the photoluminescence spectra and decay curves. The luminescent color of Ce3+-Tb3+-Eu3+ triply doped Ba3KPO4(SO4)(2) phosphors can be tuned by adjusting the ET between different dopants. Spectroscopy studies demonstrate that Tb3+ acts as a bridge via Ce3+-Tb3+-Eu3+ ET in Ba3KPO4(SO4)(2). The combined effects of energy-transfer on the emission color of Ce3+-Tb3+-Eu3+ show that the newly synthesized Ba3KPO4(SO4)(2):Ce3+/Tb3+/Eu3+ phosphors can be used as a potential color converter with a large color gamut.