Wide-Band Excited YTiTaO₆: Eu³⁺/Er³⁺ Phosphors: Structure Refinement, Luminescence Properties, and Energy Transfer Mechanisms

Eu³⁺-/Er³⁺-activated YTiTaO₆ phosphors have been prepared via conventional solid state reaction process. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and structure refinement, Raman spectra, X-ray photoelectron Spectrum (XPS), photoluminescence (PL) spectra, cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra, and lifetimes were utilized to characterize the synthesized samples. Under UV light excitation, the YTiTaO₆ sample shows broad band emission centered near 505 nm due to the Ta­(Ti)­O₆ polyhedron. Eu³⁺ and Er³⁺ ions doped YTiTaO₆ samples show strong line emissions coming from the characteristic f–f transitions. The energy transfer from the Ta­(Ti)­O₆ group of the host to Eu³⁺ and Er³⁺ in YTiTaO₆ phosphors has been demonstrated to be a resonant type via a dipole–dipole mechanism, and the critical distance (<i>R</i>_C) for host emission to Eu³⁺ and Er³⁺ calculated by concentration quenching method are 10.02 and 18.86 Å, respectively. Under the low voltage electron beam excitation, the CL spectra of YTiTaO₆, YTiTaO₆: Eu³⁺, and YTiTaO₆: Er³⁺ samples are similar to their PL spectra, exhibiting bluish-green, red, and green luminescence, respectively, which indicates that these materials might be promising for application in solid-state lighting and field-emission displays