Surface characteristics of Y3Al5O12:Ce3+ phosphor with greatly enhanced photoluminescence after chemical defect-selective etching

Abstract The surface of a commercial Y3Al5O12:Ce3+ phosphor was modified by 99% NH4F+CH3COOH solution in a supersonic bath with water temperature of 80°C for 4 h. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results showed that the edge angles were not as sharp as the unmodified particles and the flat surfaces turned rough with many micro-structures covered. Positron lifetime measurements quantitatively showed that surface defects were removed away by more than 50%. As a result, the photoluminescence determinations showed that the backscatter loss was reduced by 4.2% and the emission power was enhanced by 5.6% after the surface modification. The conversion efficiency was greatly improved from 47.3% to 51.1%, as presented by the fluorescence images. Therefore, it would be greatly helpful for the improvement of efficiency, transparency and stability of pc-LED. Moreover, this method was significantly suitable for mass production due to its easy operation and low cost.

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