Impact of Eu 3+ Dopants on Optical Spectroscopy of Ce 3+ : Y 3 Al 5 O 12 ‐Embedded Transparent Glass‐Ceramics

Transparent glass‐ceramics containing Ce 3+ : Y 3 Al 5 O 12 phosphors and Eu 3+ ions were successfully fabricated by a low‐temperature co‐sintering technique to explore their potential application in white light‐emitting diodes (WLEDs). Microstructure of the sample was studied using a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy. The impact of co‐sintering temperature, Ce 3+ : Y 3 Al 5 O 12 crystal content and Eu 3+ doping content on optical properties of glass‐ceramics were systematically studied by emission, excitation spectra, and decay curves. Notably, the spatial separation of these two different activators in the present glass‐ceramics, where Ce 3+ ions located in YAG crystalline phase while the Eu 3+ ones stayed in glass matrix, is advantageous to the realization of both intense yellow emission assigned to Ce 3+ : 5 d →4 f transition and red luminescence originating from Eu 3+ : 4 f →4 f transitions. As a result, the quantum yield of the glass‐ceramic reached as high as 93%, and the constructed WLEDs exhibited an optimal luminous efficacy of 122 lm/W, correlated color temperature of 6532 K and color rendering index of 75.