Multifunctional Ca9Na1-yLiyY2/3(PO4)7-Based Phosphors: Li+/Na+ Substitution-Regulated Site-Related Eu2+ Emission and Eu2+→Mn2+ Energy Transfer
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Updated: Oct 25, 2026

Low-energy Cathodoluminescence for (Oxy)Nitride Phosphors
Published on: November 15, 2016
Zhi Dong1, Xu Wang1, Fei Long2
1Key Laboratory of Functional Composite Materials of Guizhou Province, College of Big Data and Information Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang, Guizhou550025, China.
Abstract:
Activator-ion coordination in multisite inorganic hosts is key to luminescence modulation and multifunctional integration. However, most phosphor studies address limited functions, and single-host multiscenario platforms remain scarce. Herein, we report a β-Ca3(PO4)2-type Ca9NaY2/3(PO4)7-based single-host phosphor platform for anticounterfeiting, ratiometric optical thermometry, white-light-emitting diodes (WLEDs), and plant-growth LEDs. Based on excitation-dependent spectroscopy, wavenumber-domain Gaussian deconvolution, time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) measurements, and crystal-chemical analysis, the high-, intermediate-, and low-energy Eu2+ emission components are associated with Ca3-related, Ca1/Ca2-related, and Na-related low-coordination environments, respectively. We constructed Ca9Na1-yLiyY2/3(PO4)7:0.02Eu2+ to elucidate how isovalent Li+/Na+ substitution modulates multisite Eu2+ emission contributions via local polyhedral rearrangement; Ca9Na0.2Li0.8Y2/3(PO4)7 (CNLYP) was selected as the host. Mn2+ incorporation enabled Eu2+→Mn2+ nonradiative energy transfer, sensitizing 660 nm red emission with maximum efficiencies of 75.78% and 74.33%. Accordingly, the CNLYP platform was extended to anticounterfeiting and thermometry (Sr,max = 1.34% K-1), single-phosphor WLEDs with a color rendering index (CRI) of 81.8 and a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 5968 K, and plant-growth LEDs with spectral similarity ratios of 87.17% and 91.36% for chlorophyll a and b. This work proposes a phosphate phosphor design strategy coupling local polyhedral rearrangement with energy transfer to regulate multisite luminescent centers for single-host, multiscenario applications.
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