Investigation of red-emitting CaMoO₄: Eu³⁺ phosphor by partitioning of substitutional PO₄³⁻ ions via solid-state reaction method

To investigate the impact of PO₄³⁻ anionic groups, the trivalent europium ion-doped calcium molybdate (CaMoO₃-PO₄:xEu³⁺, where x = 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 mol%) phosphors were synthesized using the solid-state reaction method. The detailed study of the phosphor materials was carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), optical diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The XRD results indicate that the substitution of PO₄³⁻ anion and Eu³⁺ dopant ion did not affect the crystal structures of the CaMoO₄ phosphors. Ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) absorption analysis revealed the change of absorption edge of both un-doped and Eu³⁺-doped CaMoO₄-PO₄ phosphors. Under the 394 nm UV-excitation, the recorded PL spectra showed an intense peak at 615 nm corresponding to the Eu³⁺: ⁵D₀ → ⁷F₂ transition. The results of the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) diagram reported that the color of the emissions lies in the red color zone and there is no change in the CIE coordinates of the overall emission for Eu³⁺-doped CaMoO₄-PO₄ as Eu concentration changes. Thus, these observations led to finding the best red components for white light-emitting diode applications.