Solid solubility of cerium as a single phase in SrS:Ce3+ phosphor

Abstract

Alkaline earth sulfides have been known for a long time as versatile and excellent phosphor materials But the reproducibility in terms of their emission color in phosphor application is still the subject of further research. The purpose of this letter is to determine the major source of this poor reproducibility in emission color for phosphor applications. We study the solid solubility of cerium in SrS phosphor and conclude that cerium concentration in SrS:Ce3+ phosphor should be limited to less than 5 mol% in order to obtain the single-phase in SrS:Ce3+ phosphor. Therefore, good reproducibility of emission color in SrS:Ce3+ phosphor can be achieved below 5 mol% cerium concentration in SrS host.