Controlling of structural ordering and rigidity of β-SiAlON:Eu through chemical cosubstitution to approach narrow-band-emission for light-emitting diodes application

Narrow-band green-emitting phosphor β-SiAlON:Eu has been widely used in advanced wide-gamut backlighting de- vices. However, the origins for unusual sharp lines in photoluminescence emission at room temperature and tunable narrow-band- emission tailored by reducing Al-O in β-SiAlON:Eu are still unclear. Here, the presence of sharp-line fine structure in the emission spectra of β-SiAlON:Eu is mainly due to purely electronic transitions (zero phonon lines) and their vibronic repetitions resulted from the multi-microenvironment around Eu²⁺ ions that has been revealed by relative emission intensity of sharp line depends on excitation wavelength and monotonously increasing decay time. The specific features of the Eu²⁺ occupying interstitial sites indicate that the effect of crystal field strength can be neglected. Therefore the enhanced rigidity and higher ordering structure of β-SiAlON:Eu with decreasing the substitution of Si–N by Al–O become the main factors in decreasing electron–lattice coupling and reducing inhomo- geneous broadening, favouring the blue-shift and narrow of the emission band, the enhanced thermal stability, as well as the charge state of Eu²⁺. Our results provide new insights for explaining the reason for narrow-band-emission in β-SiAlON:Eu, which will deliver an impetus for the exploration of phosphors with narrow band and ordering structure.