Luminescence properties of Sr2Mg3P4O15:Mn2+ phosphor and the improvement by co-doping Bi3+

Sr2Mg3P4O15:R (R = Bi3+, Mn2+, and Bi3+/Mn2+) phosphors are synthesized by a solid-state reaction method in air. Sr2Mg3P4O15:Bi3+ phosphor with excitation 380 nm shows blue light and its emission band peaking at ∼445 nm is observed. Under excitation at 355 and 416 nm, Sr2Mg3P4O15:Mn2+ phosphor shows red emission with a single broad emission band peaking at ∼630 nm in the range of 500–800 nm owing to the 4T1(G) → 6A1 transition of the Mn2+ ion. The optimal Mn2+ ion content in Sr2Mg3P4O15:Mn2+ phosphor is ∼0.05 and the lifetime of Sr2Mg2.95P4O15:0.05Mn2+ phosphor is ∼6.17 ms. After Bi3+ ion is co-doped, emission intensity of Sr2Mg3P4O15:Mn2+ phosphor can be enhanced obviously due to energy transfer (ET) from Bi3+ to Mn2+, which is confirmed by the luminescence properties and lifetimes of Sr2Mg3-xP4O15:Bi3+, Mn2+ phosphor. Luminous mechanism and ET process of Sr2Mg3-xP4O15:Bi3+, Mn2+ phosphor are explained by the simple energy level diagram of Bi3+ and Mn2+ ions.