Understanding the White-Emitting CaMoO4 Co-Doped Eu3+, Tb3+, and Tm3+ Phosphor through Experiment and Computation

In this article, the synthesis by means of the spray pyrolysis method, of the CaMoO4 and rare-earth cation (RE3+)-doped CaMoO4:xRE3+ (RE3+ = Eu3+, Tb3+, and Tm3+; and x = 1, 2, and 4% mol) compounds, is presented. The as-synthesized samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction, Rietveld refinement, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Raman spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. To complement and rationalize the experimental results, first-principles calculations, at the density functional theory level, have been performed to analyze the band structure and density of states. In addition, a theoretical method based on the calculations of surface energie…