Synthesis, crystal structure and luminescence property in Y2ZnGe4O12:Eu3+

Exploring an operative approach to design materials for phosphor-converted light-emitting diode (pc-LED) remains a tough challenge, in which host structure of phosphor plays a decisive role. In this paper, we report the synthesis, structure and property analysis of Y2ZnGe4O12:Eu3+. The blue emission (380–500 ​nm) from the host lattice intrinsic defect and the orange-red emission (500–800 ​nm) from Eu3+ under an ultraviolent excitation was observed in the solid solution. EDX analysis and Rietveld refinement on both XRPD and NPD data indicate the existence of host lattice intrinsic defect of Y2ZnGe4O12; Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations suggest the oxygen and germanium vacancies induce the blue emission. The structural analysis implies the orange-red emission comes from the enhanced 5D0 – 7F4 transition of Eu3+ from an antiprism crystal-field. The exciton distribution mechanism was suggested to explain the light tuning and a mathematical description was given to demonstrate the manipulation of the blue and red lights. This work may inspire further work of new solid-state phosphor designing.