Aphosphor is a substance that exhibits thephenomenon ofluminescence; it emits light when exposed to some type ofradiant energy. The term is used both forfluorescent orphosphorescent substances which glow on exposure toultraviolet or visible light, andcathodoluminescent substances which glow when struck by anelectron beam (cathode rays) in acathode-ray tube.
When a phosphor is exposed to radiation, the orbitalelectrons in itsmolecules are excited to a higherenergy level; when they return to their former level they emit the energy as light of a certain color. Phosphors can be classified into two categories:fluorescent substances which emit the energy immediately and stop glowing when the exciting radiation is turned off, andphosphorescent substances which emit the energy after a delay, so they keep glowing after the radiation is turned off, decaying in brightness over a period of milliseconds to days.
Fluorescent materials are used in applications in which the phosphor is excited continuously:cathode-ray tubes (CRT) and plasma video display screens,fluoroscope screens,fluorescent lights,scintillation sensors, whiteLEDs, andluminous paints forblack light art. Phosphorescent materials are used where a persistent light is needed, such as glow-in-the-dark watch faces and aircraft instruments, and inradar screens to allow the target 'blips' to remain visible as the radar beam rotates. CRT phosphors were standardized beginning aroundWorld War II and designated by the letter "P" followed by a number.
Phosphorus, the light-emitting chemical element for which phosphors are named, emits light due tochemiluminescence, not phosphorescence.[1]
The scintillation process in inorganic materials is due to theelectronic band structure found in thecrystals. An incoming particle can excite an electron from thevalence band to either theconduction band or theexciton band (located just below the conduction band and separated from the valence band by anenergy gap). This leaves an associatedhole behind, in the valence band. Impurities create electronic levels in theforbidden gap.
The excitons are loosely boundelectron–hole pairs that wander through thecrystal lattice until they are captured as a whole by impurity centers. They then rapidly de-excite by emitting scintillation light (fast component).
In the conduction band, electrons are independent of their associated holes. Those electrons and holes are captured successively by impurity centers exciting certainmetastable states not accessible to the excitons. The delayed de-excitation of those metastable impurity states, slowed by reliance on the low-probabilityforbidden mechanism, again results in light emission (slow component).In the case of inorganicscintillators, the activator impurities are typically chosen so that the emitted light is in the visible range ornear-UV, wherephotomultipliers are effective.
Phosphors are oftentransition-metal compounds orrare-earth compounds of various types. In inorganic phosphors, these inhomogeneities in the crystal structure are created usually by addition of a trace amount ofdopants, impurities calledactivators. (In rare casesdislocations or othercrystal defects can play the role of the impurity.) The wavelength emitted by the emission center is dependent on the atom itself and on the surrounding crystal structure.
Phosphors are usually made from a suitable host material with an addedactivator. The best known type is a copper-activatedzinc sulfide (ZnS) and thesilver-activated zinc sulfide (zinc sulfidesilver).
The host materials are typicallyoxides,nitrides and oxynitrides,[2]sulfides,selenides,halides orsilicates ofzinc,cadmium,manganese,aluminium,silicon, or variousrare-earth metals. The activators prolong the emission time (afterglow). In turn, other materials (such asnickel) can be used to quench the afterglow and shorten the decay part of the phosphor emission characteristics.
Many phosphor powders are produced in low-temperature processes, such assol-gel, and usually require post-annealing at temperatures of ~1000 °C, which is undesirable for many applications. However, proper optimization of the growth process allows manufacturers to avoid the annealing.[3]
Phosphors used forfluorescent lamps require a multi-step production process, with details that vary depending on the particular phosphor. Bulk material must be milled to obtain a desired particle size range, since large particles produce a poor-quality lamp coating, and small particles produce less light and degrade more quickly. During thefiring of the phosphor, process conditions must be controlled to prevent oxidation of the phosphor activators orcontamination from the process vessels. After milling, the phosphor may be washed to remove minor excess of activator elements. Volatile elements must not be allowed to escape during processing. Lamp manufacturers have changed compositions of phosphors to eliminate some toxic elements formerly used, such asberyllium,cadmium, orthallium.[4]
The commonly quoted parameters for phosphors are thewavelength of emission maximum (in nanometers, or alternativelycolor temperature inkelvins for white blends), the peak width (innanometers at 50% of intensity), and decay time (inseconds).
Examples:
Many phosphors tend to lose efficiency gradually by several mechanisms. The activators can undergo change ofvalence (usuallyoxidation), thecrystal lattice degrades, atoms – often the activators – diffuse through the material, the surface undergoes chemical reactions with the environment with consequent loss of efficiency or buildup of a layer absorbing the exciting and/or radiated energy, etc.
The degradation of electroluminescent devices depends on frequency of driving current, the luminance level, and temperature; moisture impairs phosphor lifetime very noticeably as well.
Harder, high-melting, water-insoluble materials display lower tendency to lose luminescence under operation.[7]
Examples:
Phosphor layers provide most of the light produced byfluorescent lamps, and are also used to improve the balance of light produced bymetal halide lamps. Variousneon signs use phosphor layers to produce different colors of light.Electroluminescent displays found, for example, in aircraft instrument panels, use a phosphor layer to produce glare-free illumination or as numeric and graphic display devices. WhiteLED lamps consist of a blue or ultra-violet emitter with a phosphor coating that emits at longer wavelengths, giving a full spectrum of visible light. Unfocused and undeflectedcathode-ray tubes have been used asstroboscope lamps since 1958.[15]
Phosphor thermometry is a temperature measurement approach that uses the temperature dependence of certain phosphors. For this, a phosphor coating is applied to a surface of interest and, usually, the decay time is the emission parameter that indicates temperature. Because the illumination and detection optics can be situated remotely, the method may be used for moving surfaces such as high speed motor surfaces. Also, phosphor may be applied to the end of an optical fiber as an optical analog of a thermocouple.[citation needed]
In these applications, the phosphor is directly added to theplastic used to mold the toys, or mixed with a binder for use as paints.
ZnS:Cu phosphor is used in glow-in-the-dark cosmetic creams frequently used forHalloweenmake-ups.Generally, the persistence of the phosphor increases as the wavelength increases. See alsolightstick forchemiluminescence-based glowing items.
Quenching of the triplet state by O2 (which has a triplet ground state) as a result ofDexter energy transfer is well known in solutions of phosphorescent heavy-metal complexes and doped polymers.[16] In recent years, phosphorescence porous materials(such asMetal–organic frameworks andCovalent organic frameworks) have shown promising oxygen sensing capabilities, for their non-linear gas-adsorption in ultra-low partial pressures of oxygen.[17][18]
Phosphor banded stamps first appeared in 1959 as guides for machines to sort mail.[19] Around the world many varieties exist with different amounts of banding.[20]Postage stamps are sometimes collected by whether or not they are"tagged" with phosphor (or printed onluminescent paper).
Zinc sulfide phosphors are used withradioactive materials, where the phosphor was excited by the alpha- and beta-decaying isotopes, to create luminescent paint for dials ofwatches and instruments (radium dials). Between 1913 and 1950 radium-228 and radium-226 were used to activate a phosphor made ofsilverdoped zinc sulfide (ZnS:Ag), which gave a greenish glow. The phosphor is not suitable to be used in layers thicker than 25 mg/cm2, as the self-absorption of the light then becomes a problem. Furthermore, zinc sulfide undergoes degradation of its crystal lattice structure, leading to gradual loss of brightness significantly faster than the depletion of radium. ZnS:Ag coatedspinthariscope screens were used byErnest Rutherford in his experiments discoveringatomic nucleus.
Copper doped zinc sulfide (ZnS:Cu) is the most common phosphor used and yields blue-green light. Copper andmagnesium doped zinc sulfide(ZnS:Cu,Mg) yields yellow-orange light.
Tritium is also used as a source of radiation in various products utilizingtritium illumination.
Electroluminescence can be exploited in light sources. Such sources typically emit from a large area, which makes them suitable for backlights of LCD displays. The excitation of the phosphor is usually achieved by application of high-intensityelectric field, usually with suitable frequency. Current electroluminescent light sources tend to degrade with use, resulting in their relatively short operation lifetimes.
ZnS:Cu was the first formulation successfully displaying electroluminescence, tested at 1936 byGeorges Destriau in Madame Marie Curie laboratories in Paris.
Powder or AC electroluminescence is found in a variety of backlight and night light applications. Several groups offer branded EL offerings (e.g.IndiGlo used in some Timex watches) or "Lighttape", another trade name of an electroluminescent material, used in electroluminescentlight strips. The Apollo space program is often credited with being the first significant use of EL for backlights and lighting.[21]
Whitelight-emitting diodes are usually blueInGaN LEDs with a coating of a suitable material.Cerium(III)-dopedYAG (YAG:Ce3+, orY3Al5O12:Ce3+) is often used; it absorbs the light from the blue LED and emits in a broad range from greenish to reddish, with most of its output in yellow. This yellow emission combined with the remaining blue emission gives the "white" light, which can be adjusted to color temperature as warm (yellowish) or cold (bluish) white. The pale yellow emission of the Ce3+:YAG can be tuned by substituting the cerium with other rare-earth elements such asterbium andgadolinium and can even be further adjusted by substituting some or all of the aluminium in the YAG with gallium. However, this process is not one of phosphorescence. The yellow light is produced by a process known asscintillation, the complete absence of an afterglow being one of the characteristics of the process.
Somerare-earth-dopedSialons arephotoluminescent and can serve as phosphors.Europium(II)-doped β-SiAlON absorbs inultraviolet andvisible light spectrum and emits intense broadband visible emission. Its luminance and color does not change significantly with temperature, due to the temperature-stable crystal structure. It has a great potential as a green down-conversion phosphor for whiteLEDs; a yellow variant also exists (α-SiAlON[22]). For white LEDs, a blue LED is used with a yellow phosphor, or with a green and yellow SiAlON phosphor and a red CaAlSiN3-based (CASN) phosphor.[23][24][25]
White LEDs can also be made by coating near-ultraviolet-emitting LEDs with a mixture of high-efficiency europium-based red- and blue-emitting phosphors plus green-emitting copper- and aluminium-doped zinc sulfide(ZnS:Cu,Al). This is a method analogous to the wayfluorescent lamps work.
Some newer white LEDs use a yellow and blue emitter in series, to approximate white; this technology is used in some Motorola phones such as the Blackberry as well as LED lighting and the original-version stacked emitters by using GaN on SiC on InGaP but was later found to fracture at higher drive currents.
Many white LEDs used in general lighting systems can be used for data transfer, as, for example, in systems that modulate the LED to act as abeacon.[26]
It is also common for white LEDs to use phosphors other than Ce:YAG, or to use two or three phosphors to achieve a higher CRI, often at the cost of efficiency. Examples of additional phosphors are R9, which produces a saturated red, nitrides which produce red, and aluminates such as lutetium aluminum garnet that produce green. Silicate phosphors are brighter but fade more quickly, and are used in LCD LED backlights in mobile devices. LED phosphors can be placed directly over the die or made into a dome and placed above the LED: this approach is known as a remote phosphor.[27] Some colored LEDs, instead of using a colored LED, use a blue LED with a colored phosphor because such an arrangement is more efficient than a colored LED. Oxynitride phosphors can also be used in LEDs. The precursors used to make the phosphors may degrade when exposed to air.[28]
Cathode-ray tubes produce signal-generated light patterns in a (typically) round or rectangular format. Bulky CRTs were used in the black-and-white television (TV) sets that became popular in the 1950s, developed into color CRTs in the late 1960s, and used in virtually all color TVs and computer monitors until the mid-2000s. In the late 20th century, advanced electronics made new wide-deflection, "short tube" CRT technology viable, making CRTs more compact, but still bulky and heavy. As the original video display technology, having no viable competition for more than 40 years and dominance for over 50 years, the CRT ceased to be the main type of video display in use only around 2010. In addition to direct-view CRTs, CRT projection tubes were the basis of all projection TVs and computer video projectors of both front and rear projection types until at least the late 1990s.
CRTs have also been widely used in scientific and engineering instrumentation, such asoscilloscopes, usually with a single phosphor color, typically green. Phosphors for such applications may have long afterglow, for increased image persistence. A variation of the display CRT, used prior to the 1980s, was the CRTstorage tube, a digital memory device which (in later forms) also provided a visible display of the stored data, using a variation of the same electron-beam excited phosphor technology.
The process of producing light in CRTs by electron-beam excited phosphorescence yields much faster signal response times than even modern (2020s)LCDs can achieve, which makeslight pens and light gun games possible with CRTs, but not LCDs. Also in contrast to most other video display types, because CRT technology draws an image by scanning an electron beam (or a formation of three beams) across a phosphor surface, a CRT has no intrinsic "native resolution" and does not require scaling to display raster images at different resolutions; the CRT can display any raster format natively, within the limits defined by the electron beam spot size and, for a color CRT, the dot pitch of the phosphor. Because of this operating principle, CRTs can produce images using either raster and vector imaging methods. Vector displays are impossible for display technologies that have permanent discrete pixels, including all LCDs,plasma display panels,DMD projectors, andOLED (LED matrix, e.g. TFT OLED) panels.
The phosphors can be deposited as eitherthin film, or as discrete particles, a powder bound to the surface. Thin films have better lifetime and better resolution, but provide less bright and less efficient image than powder ones. This is caused by multiple internal reflections in the thin film, scattering the emitted light.
White (in black-and-white): The mix of zinc cadmium sulfide and zinc sulfide silver, theZnS:Ag + (Zn,Cd)S:Ag is the whiteP4 phosphor used in black and white television CRTs. Mixes of yellow and blue phosphors are usual. Mixes of red, green and blue, or a single white phosphor, can also be encountered.
Red:Yttriumoxide-sulfide activated with europium is used as the red phosphor in color CRTs. The development of color TV took a long time due to the search for a red phosphor. The first red emitting rare-earth phosphor, YVO4:Eu3+, was introduced by Levine and Palilla as a primary color in television in 1964.[29] In single crystal form, it was used as an excellent polarizer and laser material.[30]
Yellow: When mixed withcadmium sulfide, the resultingzinc cadmium sulfide(Zn,Cd)S:Ag, provides strong yellow light.
Green: Combination of zinc sulfide withcopper, theP31 phosphor orZnS:Cu, provides green light peaking at 531 nm, with long glow.
Blue: Combination of zinc sulfide with few ppm ofsilver, the ZnS:Ag, when excited by electrons, provides strong blue glow with maximum at 450 nm, with short afterglow with 200 nanosecond duration. It is known as theP22B phosphor. This material,zinc sulfide silver, is still one of the most efficient phosphors in cathode-ray tubes. It is used as a blue phosphor in color CRTs.
The phosphors are usually poor electrical conductors. This may lead to deposition of residual charge on the screen, effectively decreasing the energy of the impacting electrons due to electrostatic repulsion (an effect known as "sticking"). To eliminate this, a thin layer of aluminium (about 100 nm) is deposited over the phosphors, usually by vacuum evaporation, and connected to the conductive layer inside the tube. This layer also reflects the phosphor light to the desired direction, and protects the phosphor from ion bombardment resulting from an imperfect vacuum.
To reduce the image degradation by reflection of ambient light,contrast can be increased by several methods. In addition to black masking of unused areas of screen, the phosphor particles in color screens are coated with pigments of matching color. For example, the red phosphors are coated withferric oxide (replacing earlier Cd(S,Se) due to cadmium toxicity), blue phosphors can be coated with marine blue (CoO·nAl
2O
3) orultramarine (Na
8Al
6Si
6O
24S
2). Green phosphors based on ZnS:Cu do not have to be coated due to their own yellowish color.[7]
The black-and-white television screens require an emission color close to white. Usually, a combination of phosphors is employed.
The most common combination isZnS:Ag + (Zn,Cd)S:Cu,Al (blue + yellow). Other ones areZnS:Ag + (Zn,Cd)S:Ag (blue + yellow), andZnS:Ag + ZnS:Cu,Al + Y2O2S:Eu3+ (blue + green + red – does not contain cadmium and has poor efficiency). The color tone can be adjusted by the ratios of the components.
As the compositions contain discrete grains of different phosphors, they produce image that may not be entirely smooth. A single, white-emitting phosphor,(Zn,Cd)S:Ag,Au,Al overcomes this obstacle. Due to its low efficiency, it is used only on very small screens.
The screens are typically covered with phosphor using sedimentation coating, where particlessuspended in a solution are let to settle on the surface.[31]
For displaying of a limited palette of colors, there are a few options.
Inbeam penetration tubes, different color phosphors are layered and separated with dielectric material. The acceleration voltage is used to determine the energy of the electrons; lower-energy ones are absorbed in the top layer of the phosphor, while some of the higher-energy ones shoot through and are absorbed in the lower layer. So either the first color or a mixture of the first and second color is shown. With a display with red outer layer and green inner layer, the manipulation of accelerating voltage can produce a continuum of colors from red through orange and yellow to green.
Another method is using a mixture of two phosphors with different characteristics. The brightness of one is linearly dependent on electron flux, while the other one's brightness saturates at higher fluxes—the phosphor does not emit any more light regardless of how many more electrons impact it. At low electron flux, both phosphors emit together; at higher fluxes, the luminous contribution of the nonsaturating phosphor prevails, changing the combined color.[31]
Such displays can have high resolution, due to absence of two-dimensional structuring of RGB CRT phosphors. Their color palette is, however, very limited. They were used e.g. in some older military radar displays.
 | This sectionis missing information about time period of each phosphor composition. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(October 2020) |
The phosphors in color CRTs need higher contrast and resolution than the black-and-white ones. The energy density of the electron beam is about 100 times greater than in black-and-white CRTs; the electron spot is focused to about 0.2 mm diameter instead of about 0.6 mm diameter of the black-and-white CRTs. Effects related to electron irradiation degradation are therefore more pronounced.
Color CRTs require three different phosphors, emitting in red, green and blue, patterned on the screen. Three separate electron guns are used for color production (except for displays that usebeam-index tube technology, which is rare). The red phosphor has always been a problem, being the dimmest of the three necessitating the brighter green and blue electron beam currents be adjusted down to make them equal the red phosphor's lower brightness. This made early color TVs only usable indoors as bright light made it impossible to see the dim picture, while portable black-and-white TVs viewable in outdoor sunlight were already common.
The composition of the phosphors changed over time, as better phosphors were developed and as environmental concerns led to lowering the content of cadmium and later abandoning it entirely. The(Zn,Cd)S:Ag,Cl was replaced with(Zn,Cd)S:Cu,Al with lower cadmium/zinc ratio, and then with cadmium-freeZnS:Cu,Al.
The blue phosphor stayed generally unchanged, a silver-doped zinc sulfide. The green phosphor initially used manganese-doped zinc silicate, then evolved through silver-activated cadmium-zinc sulfide, to lower-cadmium copper-aluminium activated formula, and then to cadmium-free version of the same. The red phosphor saw the most changes; it was originally manganese-activated zinc phosphate, then a silver-activated cadmium-zinc sulfide, then the europium(III) activated phosphors appeared; first in anyttrium vanadate matrix, then inyttrium oxide and currently inyttrium oxysulfide. The evolution of the phosphors was therefore (ordered by B-G-R):
Forprojection televisions, where the beam power density can be two orders of magnitude higher than in conventional CRTs, some different phosphors have to be used.
For blue color,ZnS:Ag,Cl is employed. However, it saturates.(La,Gd)OBr:Ce,Tb3+ can be used as an alternative that is more linear at high energy densities.
For green, aterbium-activatedGd2O2Tb3+; its color purity and brightness at low excitation densities is worse than the zinc sulfide alternative, but it behaves linear at high excitation energy densities, while zinc sulfide saturates. However, it also saturates, soY3Al5O12:Tb3+ orY2SiO5:Tb3+ can be substituted.LaOBr:Tb3+ is bright but water-sensitive, degradation-prone, and the plate-like morphology of its crystals hampers its use; these problems are solved now, so it is gaining use due to its higher linearity.
Y2O2S:Eu3+ is used for red emission.[31]
| Phosphor | Composition | Color | Wavelength | Peak width | Persistence | Usage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1, GJ | Zn2SiO4:Mn (Willemite) | Green | 525 nm | 40 nm[34] | 1-100ms | CRT, Lamp | Oscilloscopes andmonochrome monitors |
| P2 | ZnS:Cu(Ag)(B*) | Blue-Green | 543 nm | – | Long | CRT | Oscilloscopes |
| P3 | Zn8:BeSi5O19:Mn | Yellow | 602 nm | – | Medium/13 ms | CRT | Amber monochrome monitors |
| P4 | ZnS:Ag+(Zn,Cd)S:Ag | White | 565,540 nm | – | Short | CRT | Black and white TV CRTs and display tubes. |
| P4 (Cd-free) | ZnS:Ag+ZnS:Cu+Y2O2S:Eu | White | – | – | Short | CRT | Black and white TV CRTs and display tubes, Cd free. |
| P5 | CaWO4:W | Blue | 430 nm | – | Very Short | CRT | Film |
| P6 | ZnS:Ag+ZnS:CdS:Ag | White | 565,460 nm | – | Short | CRT | |
| P7 | (Zn,Cd)S:Cu | Blue with Yellow persistence | 558,440 nm | – | Long | CRT | RadarPPI, old EKG monitors, early oscilloscopes |
| P10 | KCl | Green-absorbingscotophor | – | – | Long | Dark-trace CRTs | Radar screens; turns from translucent white to dark magenta, stays changed until erased by heating or infrared light |
| P11, BE | ZnS:Ag,Cl or ZnS:Zn | Blue | 460 nm | – | 0.01-1 ms | CRT, VFD | Display tubes andVFDs; Oscilloscopes (for fast photographic recording)[35] |
| P12 | Zn(Mg)F2:Mn | Orange | 590 nm | – | Medium/long | CRT | Radar |
| P13 | MgSi2O6:Mn | Reddish-Orange | 640 nm | – | Medium | CRT | Flying spot scanning systems and photographic applications |
| P14 | ZnS:Ag on ZnS:CdS:Cu | Blue with Orange persistence | – | – | Medium/long | CRT | RadarPPI, old EKG monitors |
| P15 | ZnO:Zn | Blue-Green | 504,391 nm | – | Extremely Short | CRT | Television pickup byflying-spot scanning |
| P16 | CaMgSi2O6:Ce | Blue-Purple | 380 nm | – | Very Short | CRT | Flying spot scanning systems and photographic applications |
| P17 | ZnO,ZnCdS:Cu | Blue-Yellow | 504,391 nm | – | Blue-Short, Yellow-Long | CRT | |
| P18 | CaMgSi2O6:Ti, BeSi2O6:Mn | White | 545,405 nm | – | Medium to Short | CRT | |
| P19, LF | (KF,MgF2):Mn | Orange-Yellow | 590 nm | – | Long | CRT | Radar screens |
| P20, KA | (Zn,Cd)S:Ag or (Zn,Cd)S:Cu | Yellow-Green | 555 nm | – | 1–100 ms | CRT | Display tubes |
| P21 | MgF2:Mn2+ | Reddish | 605 nm | – | – | CRT, Radar | Registered by Allen B DuMont Laboratories |
| P22R | Y2O2S:Eu+Fe2O3 | Red | 611 nm | – | Short | CRT | Red phosphor for TV screens |
| P22G | (Zn,Cd)S:Cu,Al | Green | 530 nm | – | Short | CRT | Green phosphor for TV screens |
| P22B | ZnS:Ag+Co-on-Al2O3 | Blue | – | – | Short | CRT | Blue phosphor forTV screens |
| P23 | ZnS:Ag+(Zn,Cd)S:Ag | White | 575,460 nm | – | Short | CRT, Direct viewing television | Registered by United States Radium Corporation. |
| P24, GE | ZnO:Zn | Green | 505 nm | – | 1–10 μs | VFD | most common phosphor invacuum fluorescent displays.[36] |
| P25 | CaSi2O6:Pb:Mn | Orange | 610 nm | – | Medium | CRT | Military Displays - 7UP25 CRT |
| P26, LC | (KF,MgF2):Mn | Orange | 595 nm | – | Long | CRT | Radar screens |
| P27 | ZnPO4:Mn | Reddish Orange | 635 nm | – | Medium | CRT | Color TV monitor service |
| P28, KE | (Zn,Cd)S:Cu,Cl | Yellow | – | – | Medium | CRT | Display tubes |
| P29 | Alternating P2 and P25 stripes | Blue-Green/Orange stripes | – | – | Medium | CRT | Radar screens |
| P31, GH | ZnS:Cu or ZnS:Cu,Ag | Yellowish-green | – | – | 0.01-1 ms | CRT | Oscilloscopes and monochrome monitors |
| P33, LD | MgF2:Mn | Orange | 590 nm | – | > 1sec | CRT | Radar screens |
| P34 | – | Bluish Green-Yellow Green | – | – | Very Long | CRT | – |
| P35 | ZnS,ZnSe:Ag | Blue-White | 455 nm | – | Medium Short | CRT | Photographic registration on orthochromatic film materials |
| P38, LK | (Zn,Mg)F2:Mn | Orange-Yellow | 590 nm | – | Long | CRT | Radar screens |
| P39, GR | Zn2SiO4:Mn,As | Green | 525 nm | – | Long | CRT | Display tubes |
| P40, GA | ZnS:Ag+(Zn,Cd)S:Cu | White | – | – | Long | CRT | Display tubes |
| P43, GY | Gd2O2S:Tb | Yellow-Green | 545 nm | – | Medium | CRT | Display tubes, Electronic Portal Imaging Devices (EPIDs) used in radiation therapy linear accelerators for cancer treatment |
| P45, WB | Y2O2S:Tb | White | 545 nm | – | Short | CRT | Viewfinders |
| P46, KG | Y3Al5O12:Ce | Green | 530 nm | – | Very short (70ns) | CRT | Beam-index tube |
| P47, BH | Y2SiO5:Ce | Blue | 400 nm | – | Very short | CRT | Beam-index tube |
| P53, KJ | Y3Al5O12:Tb | Yellow-Green | 544 nm | – | Short | CRT | Projection tubes |
| P55, BM | ZnS:Ag,Al | Blue | 450 nm | – | Short | CRT | Projection tubes |
| ZnS:Ag | Blue | 450 nm | – | – | CRT | – | |
| ZnS:Cu,Al or ZnS:Cu,Au,Al | Green | 530 nm | – | – | CRT | – | |
| (Zn,Cd)S:Cu,Cl+(Zn,Cd)S:Ag,Cl | White | – | – | – | CRT | – | |
| Y2SiO5:Tb | Green | 545 nm | – | – | CRT | Projection tubes | |
| Y2OS:Tb | Green | 545 nm | – | – | CRT | Display tubes | |
| Y3(Al,Ga)5O12:Ce | Green | 520 nm | – | Short | CRT | Beam-index tube | |
| Y3(Al,Ga)5O12:Tb | Yellow-Green | 544 nm | – | Short | CRT | Projection tubes | |
| InBO3:Tb | Yellow-Green | 550 nm | – | – | CRT | – | |
| InBO3:Eu | Yellow | 588 nm | – | – | CRT | – | |
| InBO3:Tb+InBO3:Eu | amber | – | – | – | CRT | Computer displays | |
| InBO3:Tb+InBO3:Eu+ZnS:Ag | White | – | – | – | CRT | – | |
| (Ba,Eu)Mg2Al16O27 | Blue | – | – | – | Lamp | Trichromatic fluorescent lamps | |
| (Ce,Tb)MgAl11O19 | Green | 546 nm | 9 nm | – | Lamp | Trichromatic fluorescent lamps[34] | |
| BAM | BaMgAl10O17:Eu,Mn | Blue | 450 nm | – | – | Lamp, displays | Trichromatic fluorescent lamps |
| BaMg2Al16O27:Eu(II) | Blue | 450 nm | 52 nm | – | Lamp | Trichromatic fluorescent lamps[34] | |
| BAM | BaMgAl10O17:Eu,Mn | Blue-Green | 456 nm,514 nm | – | – | Lamp | – |
| BaMg2Al16O27:Eu(II),Mn(II) | Blue-Green | 456 nm, 514 nm | 50 nm 50%[34] | – | Lamp | ||
| Ce0.67Tb0.33MgAl11O19:Ce,Tb | Green | 543 nm | – | – | Lamp | Trichromatic fluorescent lamps | |
| Zn2SiO4:Mn,Sb2O3 | Green | 528 nm | – | – | Lamp | – | |
| CaSiO3:Pb,Mn | Orange-Pink | 615 nm | 83 nm[34] | – | Lamp | ||
| CaWO4 (Scheelite) | Blue | 417 nm | – | – | Lamp | – | |
| CaWO4:Pb | Blue | 433 nm/466 nm | 111 nm | – | Lamp | Wide bandwidth[34] | |
| MgWO4 | Pale Blue | 473 nm | 118 nm | – | Lamp | Wide bandwidth, deluxe blend component[34] | |
| (Sr,Eu,Ba,Ca)5(PO4)3Cl | Blue | – | – | – | Lamp | Trichromatic fluorescent lamps | |
| Sr5Cl(PO4)3:Eu(II) | Blue | 447 nm | 32 nm[34] | – | Lamp | – | |
| (Ca,Sr,Ba)3(PO4)2Cl2:Eu | Blue | 452 nm | – | – | Lamp | – | |
| (Sr,Ca,Ba)10(PO4)6Cl2:Eu | Blue | 453 nm | – | – | Lamp | Trichromatic fluorescent lamps | |
| Sr2P2O7:Sn(II) | Blue | 460 nm | 98 nm | – | Lamp | Wide bandwidth, deluxe blend component[34] | |
| Sr6P5BO20:Eu | Blue-Green | 480 nm | 82 nm[34] | – | Lamp | – | |
| Ca5F(PO4)3:Sb | Blue | 482 nm | 117 nm | – | Lamp | Wide bandwidth[34] | |
| (Ba,Ti)2P2O7:Ti | Blue-Green | 494 nm | 143 nm | – | Lamp | Wide bandwidth, deluxe blend component[34] | |
| 3Sr3(PO4)2.SrF2:Sb,Mn | Blue | 502 nm | – | – | Lamp | – | |
| Sr5F(PO4)3:Sb,Mn | Blue-Green | 509 nm | 127 nm | – | Lamp | Wide bandwidth[34] | |
| Sr5F(PO4)3:Sb,Mn | Blue-Green | 509 nm | 127 nm | – | Lamp | Wide bandwidth[34] | |
| LaPO4:Ce,Tb | Green | 544 nm | – | – | Lamp | Trichromatic fluorescent lamps | |
| (La,Ce,Tb)PO4 | Green | – | – | – | Lamp | Trichromatic fluorescent lamps | |
| (La,Ce,Tb)PO4:Ce,Tb | Green | 546 nm | 6 nm | – | Lamp | Trichromatic fluorescent lamps[34] | |
| Ca3(PO4)2.CaF2:Ce,Mn | Yellow | 568 nm | – | – | Lamp | – | |
| (Ca,Zn,Mg)3(PO4)2:Sn | Orange-Pink | 610 nm | 146 nm | – | Lamp | Wide bandwidth, blend component[34] | |
| (Zn,Sr)3(PO4)2:Mn | Orange-Red | 625 nm | – | – | Lamp | – | |
| (Sr,Mg)3(PO4)2:Sn | Light Orange-Pink | 626 nm | 120 nm | – | Fluorescent lamps | Wide bandwidth, deluxe blend component[34] | |
| (Sr,Mg)3(PO4)2:Sn(II) | Orange-red | 630 nm | – | – | Fluorescent lamps | – | |
| Ca5F(PO4)3:Sb,Mn | 3800K | – | – | – | Fluorescent lamps | Lite-white blend[34] | |
| Ca5(F,Cl)(PO4)3:Sb,Mn | White-Cold/Warm | – | – | – | Fluorescent lamps | 2600 to 9900 K, for very high output lamps[34] | |
| (Y,Eu)2O3 | Red | – | – | – | Lamp | Trichromatic fluorescent lamps | |
| Y2O3:Eu(III) | Red | 611 nm | 4 nm | – | Lamp | Trichromatic fluorescent lamps[34] | |
| Mg4(F)GeO6:Mn | Red | 658 nm | 17 nm | – | High-pressure mercury lamps | [34] | |
| Mg4(F)(Ge,Sn)O6:Mn | Red | 658 nm | – | – | Lamp | – | |
| Y(P,V)O4:Eu | Orange-Red | 619 nm | – | – | Lamp | – | |
| YVO4:Eu | Orange-Red | 619 nm | – | – | High Pressure Mercury and Metal Halide Lamps | – | |
| Y2O2S:Eu | Red | 626 nm | – | – | Lamp | – | |
| 3.5 MgO · 0.5 MgF2 · GeO2 :Mn | Red | 655 nm | – | – | Lamp | 3.5 MgO · 0.5 MgF2 · GeO2 :Mn | |
| Mg5As2O11:Mn | Red | 660 nm | – | – | High-pressure mercury lamps, 1960s | – | |
| SrAl2O7:Pb | Ultraviolet | 313 nm | – | – | Special fluorescent lamps for medical use | Ultraviolet | |
| CAM | LaMgAl11O19:Ce | Ultraviolet | 340 nm | 52 nm | – | Black-light fluorescent lamps | Ultraviolet |
| LAP | LaPO4:Ce | Ultraviolet | 320 nm | 38 nm | – | Medical and scientific UV lamps | Ultraviolet |
| SAC | SrAl12O19:Ce | Ultraviolet | 295 nm | 34 nm | – | Lamp | Ultraviolet |
| SrAl11Si0.75O19:Ce0.15Mn0.15 | Green | 515 nm | 22 nm | – | Lamp | Monochromatic lamps for copiers[37] | |
| BSP | BaSi2O5:Pb | Ultraviolet | 350 nm | 40 nm | – | Lamp | Ultraviolet |
| SrFB2O3:Eu(II) | Ultraviolet | 366 nm | – | – | Lamp | Ultraviolet | |
| SBE | SrB4O7:Eu | Ultraviolet | 368 nm | 15 nm | – | Lamp | Ultraviolet |
| SMS | Sr2MgSi2O7:Pb | Ultraviolet | 365 nm | 68 nm | – | Lamp | Ultraviolet |
| MgGa2O4:Mn(II) | Blue-Green | – | – | – | Lamp | Black light displays |
Some other phosphors commercially available, for use asX-ray screens,neutron detectors,alpha particlescintillators, etc., are:
| Phosphor | Composition | Color | Wavelength | Decay | Afterglow | X-ray absorption | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gd2O2S:Eu | Red | 627 nm | 850 μs | Yes | High | X-ray, neutrons and gamma | |
| Gd2O2S:Pr | Green | 513 nm | 4 μs | No | High | X-ray, neutrons and gamma | |
| Gd2O2S:Pr,Ce,F | Green | 513 nm | 7 μs | No | High | X-ray, neutrons and gamma | |
| Y2O2S:Pr | White | 513 nm | 7 μs | No | Low-energy X-ray | ||
| HS | Zn 0.5Cd 0.4S:Ag | Green | 560 nm | 80 μs | Yes | Efficient but low-res X-ray | |
| HSr | Zn 0.4Cd 0.6S:Ag | Red | 630 nm | 80 μs | Yes | Efficient but low-res X-ray | |
| CdWO4 | Blue | 475 nm | 28 μs | No | Intensifying phosphor for X-ray and gamma | ||
| CaWO4 | Blue | 410 nm | 20 μs | No | Intensifying phosphor for X-ray and gamma | ||
| MgWO4 | White | 500 nm | 80 μs | No | Intensifying phosphor | ||
| YAP | YAlO3:Ce | Blue | 370 nm | 25 ns | No | For electrons, suitable for photomultipliers | |
| YAG | Y3Al5O12:Ce | Green | 550 nm | 70 ns | No | For electrons, suitable for photomultipliers | |
| YGG | Y3(Al,Ga)5O12:Ce | Green | 530 nm | 250 ns | Low | For electrons, suitable for photomultipliers | |
| CdS:In | Green | 525 nm | <1 ns | No | Ultrafast, for electrons | ||
| ZnO:Ga | Blue | 390 nm | <5 ns | No | Ultrafast, for electrons | ||
| Anthracene | Blue | 447 nm | 32 ns | No | For alpha particles and electrons | ||
| plastic (EJ-212) | Blue | 400 nm | 2.4 ns | No | For alpha particles and electrons | ||
| P1 | Zn2SiO4:Mn | Green | 530 nm | 11 ns | Low | For electrons | |
| GS | ZnS:Cu | Green | 520 nm | Minutes | Long | For X-rays | |
| NaI:Tl | For X-ray, alpha, and electrons | ||||||
| CsI:Tl | Green | 545 nm | 5 μs | Yes | For X-ray, alpha, and electrons | ||
| ND | 6LiF/ZnS:Ag | Blue | 455 nm | 80 μs | Forthermal neutrons | ||
| NDg | 6LiF/ZnS:Cu,Al,Au | Green | 565 nm | 35 μs | For neutrons | ||
| Cerium doped YAG phosphor | Yellow |
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