The Effect of Pretreatment of Raw Powders on the Photoluminescence of Ca-α-SiAlON:Eu2+ Phosphor

The effect of calcination treatment of raw powders prior to high temperature synthesis of Ca-α-SiAlON:Eu2+ phosphor was investigated. Based on data acquired from thermogravimetric analysis, calcination temperatures were set at 600, 750, and 900oC. Compared to the photoluminescence (PL) intensity of direct synthesis without calcination, a similar intensity was found for the 600oC treatment, a 19 % increased PL intensity was found for the 750oC treatment, and a 23 % decreased PL intensity was found for the 900oC treatment. Observation of the particle morphology of the synthesized phosphors revealed that the material trans-port promoted through the agglomerates formed by the 750oC treatment led to enhanced PL intensity. On the other hand, the oxidation of the starting AlN particles during the 900oC treatment resulted in decreased photoluminescence