Synthesis of CaZrO3 : Eu3+ phosphor by skull melting method

Single crystal phased CaZrO3 : Eu3+ phosphor have been synthesized by skull melting method. The crystal structure, morphology and optical properties of synthesized phosphor were investigated XRD (X-ray diffraction), SEM (scanning electron microscopy), UV (ultraviolet) fluorescence reaction and PL (photo luminescence). The starting materials having chemical composition of CaO: ZrO2 : Eu2O3 = 0.962 : 1.013 : 0.025 mol% were charged into a cold crucible. The cold crucible was 120 mm in inner diameter and 150 mm in inner height, and 3 kg of mixed powder (CaO, ZrO2 and Eu2O3) was completely melted within 1 hour at an oscillation frequency of 3.4 MHz, maintained in the molten state for 2 hours, and finally air-cooled. The XRD results show that synthesized phosphor is stabilized in orthorhombic perovskite structure without any impurity phases. The synthesized phosphor could be excited by UV light (254 or 365 nm) and the emission spectra results indicated that bright red luminescence of CaZrO3 : Eu3+ due to magnetic dipole transition D-5(0) -> F-7(2) at 615 nm was dominant.