Structure, photoluminescent and cathodoluminescent properties of a rare-earth free red emitting β-Zn3B2O6:Mn2+ phosphor.

A rare-earth free red emitting β-Zn3B2O6:Mn(2+) phosphor was prepared by a solid-state reaction method. The crystal structure, photoluminescent and cathodoluminescent properties of β-Zn3B2O6:Mn(2+) were systematically investigated. The absorption and photoluminescence excitation spectra confirm that β-Zn3B2O6:Mn(2+) matches the UV LED chip. Under UV light and low-voltage electron beam excitations, an interesting orange-red emission band centered at ∼600 nm of Mn(2+) at the tetrahedral Zn(2+) sites is observed. Besides, the unusual red shift with increasing Mn(2+) content is also found and contributed to an exchange interaction between Mn(2+). In addition, under low-voltage excitation, β-Zn3B2O6:Mn(2+) exhibits higher color purity of 98.1% than that of the commercial ZnS:Ag,Cd yellow phosphor and reported ZnGeN2:Mn(2+) orange phosphor, which indicated the β-Zn3B2O6:Mn(2+) has a patenting application in FEDs.