A new caesium sodium samarium borate phosphate, CsNa2Sm2(BO3)(PO4)2, has been obtained successfully by the high-temperature solution growth (HTSG) method and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that it crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Cmcm. The structure contains BO3, PO4, NaO7 and SmO7 polyhedra which are interconnected via corner- or edge-sharing O atoms to form a three-dimensional [Na2Sm2(BO3)(PO4)2]∞ network. This network delimits large cavities where large Cs+ cations reside to form the total structure. Under 402 nm light excitation, CsNa2Sm2(BO3)(PO4)2 exhibits three emission bands due to the 4f→4f transitions of Sm3+. Furthermore, we introduced Gd3+ into Sm3+ sites to optimize the Sm3+ concentration and improve the luminescence intensity. The optimal concentration is Gd/Sm = 98/2. The luminescent lifetime of a series of CsNa2Gd2(1-x)Sm2x(BO3)(PO4)2 phosphors shows a gradual degradation of lifetime from 2.196 to 0.872 ms for x = 0.01-0.10. The Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) 1931 calculation reveals that CsNa2Gd1.96Sm0.04(BO3)(PO4)2 can emit orange light under 402 nm excitation.
Keywords: borate; caesium; crystal structure; luminescence; phosphate; phosphor; samarium.