Luminescence Properties of La₂MoO₆:RE³⁺ (RE = Eu, Sm) Phosphors Subjected to the Different Concentrations of Activator Ions

활성제 이온의 농도 변화에 따른 La₂MoO₆:RE³⁺ (RE = Eu, Sm) 형광체의 발광 특성

$Eu^{3+}$- or $Sm^{3+}$-doped $La_2MoO_6$ phosphors were synthesized with different concentrations of activator ions via a solid-state reaction. The X-ray diffraction patterns exhibited that crystalline structures of all the phosphors were tetragonal systems with the dominant peak occurring at (103) plane, irrespective of the concentration and the type of activator ions. The crystallites showed the pebble-like crystalline shapes and the average crystallite size increased with a tendency to agglomerate as the concentration of $Eu^{3+}$ ions increased. The excitation spectra of $Eu^{3+}$-doped $La_2MoO_6$ phosphors contained an intense charge transfer band centered at 331 nm in the range of 250-370 nm and three weak peaks at 381, 394, and 415 nm, respectively, due to the $^7F_0{\rightarrow}^5L_7$, $^7F_0{\rightarrow}^5L_6$, and $^7F_0{\rightarrow}^5D_3$ transitions of $Eu^{3+}$ ions. The emission spectra under excitation at 331 nm exhibited a strong red band centered at 620 nm and two weak bands at 593 and 704 nm. As the concentration of $Eu^{3+}$ increased from 1 to 20 mol%, the intensities of all the emission bands gradually increased. For the $Sm^{3+}$-doped $La_2MoO_6$ phosphors, the emission spectra consisted of an intense emission band at 607 nm arising from the $^4G_{5/2}{\rightarrow}^6H_{7/2}$ transition and three relatively small bands at 565, 648, and 707 nm originating from the $^4G_{5/2}{\rightarrow}^6H_{5/2}$, $^4G_{5/2}{\rightarrow}^6H_{9/2}$, and $^4G_{5/2}{\rightarrow}^6H_{11/2}$ transitions of $Sm^{3+}$, respectively. The intensities of all the emission bands approached maxima when concentration of $Sm^{3+}$ ions was 5 mol%. These results indicate that the optimum concentrations for highly-luminescent red and orange emission are 20 mol% of $Eu^{3+}$ and 5 mol% of $Sm^{3+}$ ions, respectively.