Preparation and luminescence investigations of garnet-based Y₂Ca₂Ga₃VO₁₂:RE (RE = Eu³⁺, Sm³⁺, and Dy³⁺) phosphors

We report, for the first time, the preparation and luminescence investigations of the YCGVO: RE (RE = Eu³⁺, Sm³⁺, and Dy³⁺) phosphors. The efficient multicolor emissions at 592 nm (orange), 612 nm (red), and 577 nm (yellow) were obtained from YCGVO:RE (RE = Eu³⁺, Sm³⁺, and Dy³⁺) phosphors with near-UV excitation. The room temperature decay of ⁵D₀ (Eu³⁺), ⁴G_5/2 (Sm³⁺), and ⁴F_9/2 (Dy³⁺) levels in YCGVO:RE phosphors exhibits the average lifetime of 2.59–2.89, 0.82–1.44, and 0.25–0.63 ms, respectively. Upon excitation of VO₄^3- group, the emission intensity of the RE ions increases with increasing the dopant concentration, simultaneously, the intensity of 520 nm emission related to the VO₄^3- group decreases, indicating an efficient VO₄³⁻ → RE energy transfer (ET). The YCGVO: RE (RE = Eu³⁺, Sm³⁺, and Dy³⁺) phosphors are promising candidate for white LED application.