A sequence of white-emitting Ca18.62–x
Ln
x
Zn2(PO4)14:0.38Dy3+ (Ln = Y, La) phosphors
were synthesized by a high-temperature solid-phase method. The luminescence
enhancement of Ca18.62–x
Ln
x
Zn2(PO4)14:0.38Dy3+ phosphors via Ln3+ partial
substitution was investigated. Since Ln3+ and Ca2+ ions have similar ionic radii, XRD results showed that Ln3+ could enter into the lattice without changing the host structure
and the luminescence performance was further enhanced by affecting
the lattice environment around the luminescence center. When the substitution
amounts of Y3+ and La3+ were respectively x = 0.57 and 0.76 in the Ca18.62–x
Ln
x
Zn2(PO4)14:0.38Dy3+ phosphor, the optimal luminescence
performance could be acquired, and the luminescence intensity could
be increased to 1.43 and 1.55 times the original intensity, respectively.
Meanwhile, the cation substitution can greatly improve the thermal
stability and enhance the activation energy of phosphor. Finally,
the w-LEDs with neutral white light emitting were
obtained by coating the as-prepared phosphor on an n-UV chip, and
the color rendering index and correlated color temperature were measured
as 85.8 and 5071 K, respectively. All the results indicated that the
Ca18.62–x
Ln
x
Zn2(PO4)14:0.38Dy3+ phosphor is an excellent candidate as a single-component
white-emitting phosphor.