Structural and Photoluminescence Characteristics of Dy3+ Doped Zn2SiO4 Phosphors for White Light Emitting Diodes

Silicate-based Zn2SiO4 phosphor was synthesized by a low-cost solid-state reaction method doped with varying concentrations of Dy3+ ion (1, 2, 4, 6, 8 & 10% mol). The powder X-ray diffraction results revealed that the crystal structure of the synthesized phosphor was orthorhombic, which was matched with ICCD No. 00-037-1485. The average crystallite size of Zn2SiO4: Dy3+ was determined using the Debye-Scherrer formula and the W-H plot was found to be -32 nm and -41 nm, respectively. Field emission electron microscopic study showed the surface morphology of the synthesized phosphor was irregular in shape with slight tendency of agglomeration. The photoluminescence emission spectra of the phosphor exhibited intense emission spectra at 464, 488 and 579 nm, 4H15/2→6I15/2, 4F9/2→6H15/2, 4H9/2→6H13/2 of Dy3+ ions, respectively when excited at 337 nm and their corresponding colour coordinates and correlated colour temperatures were also calculated.