Abstract
Mn2+-doped Zn2SiO4 (ZSM(2+)) was synthesized by a facile sol-gel technique. The obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) techniques. Under UV excitation, spectra showed that the alpha-ZSM(2+) phosphor exhibited a strong green emission around 525 nm and reached the highest luminescence intensity with the Mn doping concentration of 5 at.%. However, for the beta-ZSM(2+) phase, an interesting yellow emission band centered at similar to 575 nm of Mn2+ at the Zn2+ tetrahedral sites was observed. In addition, an unusual red shift with increasing Mn2+ content was also found and attributed to an exchange interaction between Mn2+. Both PL and CL spectra exhibit an intense green and yellow emission centered at similar to 525 and similar to 573 nm, respectively, due to the T-4(1) ((4)G)-(6)A(1) (6S) transition of Mn2+. Furthermore, these results indicated that the Mn2+-doped zinc silicate phosphors may have potential applications in green and yellow emissions displays like field emission displays (FEDs).