For solving the problem
that Eu3+-activated phosphors cannot be well excited by
the near UV-LED chips, the charge transfer band (CTB) of Eu3+-N3– in α-M3B2N4 (M = Ca, Sr) has been investigated in this work. Compared
with the sharp excitation peaks due to the f–f transitions
of Eu3+, the charge transfer band is broad and the excitation
band of α-M3B2N4 (M = Ca, Sr):Eu3+ centered at 370 or 350 nm lies in near-UV, implying a promising
excitation. The electron and crystal structures of α-M3B2N4 (M = Ca, Sr) has been analyzed in detailed,
indicating that they all crystallize in cubic phase with the space
group (Im3̅m) and have similar
band-gap structures. The double bond of [N = BN]3– combining with the face-shared (Ca, Sr)N6 octahedron forms the
stable and compact crystal structure, and the band gap with the value
about 4 eV is suitable for Eu3+ to form a luminescent center.
Under near-UV excitation, the sharp red light that peaked at 613 and
593 nm resulting from the f–f transition of Eu3+ ions has been obtained. The optimal concentration of Eu3+ in the α-M3B2N4 (M = Ca,
Sr) has been measured, and the decay curves of samples prove that
the energy transfer happens between Eu3+ ions through the
dipole–dipole interaction. The thermal stability of samples
has been measured to access their application in the WLED.