Spectral and luminescent characteristics of trivalent lanthanide ions in a POCl3-SnCl4 inorganic solvent

We have measured the absorption and luminescence spectra of trivalent lanthanide ions (Pr³⁺, Sm³⁺, Tb³⁺, Dy³⁺, Ho³⁺, Er³⁺, Tm³⁺, and Yb³⁺) in the visible and near-IR wavelength ranges in a POCl₃-SnCl₄ inorganic solvent. In terms of the Judd-Ofelt model, the oscillator strengths of absorption bands, the probabilities of radiative transitions, the luminescence branching coefficients, the lifetimes of excited states, and the luminescence quantum yields have been calculated. Possibilities of creating new laser media have been evaluated. A conclusion is drawn regarding the symmetry of the environment of trivalent lanthanide ions in the POCl₃-SnCl₄ solvent.     

Short-range order changes induced by heat treatment in yttrium-aluminosilicate glasses

Short-range order and local atomic configuration in yttrium-aluminosilicate glasses doped with gadolinium were studied by infrared (IR) spectroscopy, ²⁷Al magic-angle-spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS-NMR) and Gd³⁺ electron spin resonance (EPR) on as-prepared and heat-treated samples.A small amount of yttrium was replaced by gadolinium in the host glass because Y³⁺ and Gd³⁺ cations are quite similar and gadolinium ions can be used as structural sensor in electron paramagnetic resonance measurements. The results evidence weak changes in the structure of as-prepared glasses with respect to the coordination of aluminium atoms produced by gadolinium doping (0.2 and 0.5 mol%). New IR bands recorded from heat-treated samples are associated with stretching modes of hexacoordinated aluminium in AlO₆ octahedra. The effect of the heat treatment on aluminium environment is estimated by analysing the relative intensity of the component lines of simulated ²⁷Al MAS-NMR spectra. High-coordinated AlO_n species were identified in all samples. EPR results evidence the increase of the number of gadolinium sites with weak crystal field as effect of the structural relaxation.     

Quadrupolar magic angle spinning NMR spectra fitted using the Pearson IV function

The Pearson IV function was used to fit the asymmetric solid-state ²⁷Al NMR spectra of alumina based catalysts. A high convergence (correlation coefficient is no less than 0.997) between experimental and simulated spectra was achieved. The decomposition of the ²⁷Al NMR spectra of zinc/aluminum mixed oxides with different Zn/Al molar ratio revealed an increased fraction (6–9%) of pentacoordinated aluminum atoms in these oxides as compared to γ-Al₂O₃. As the Zn/Al ratio is raised, the fraction of [AlO₆] octahedral units decreases, while the fraction of [AlO₄] tetrahedra increases.     

Photoluminescence study in Ce activated M6B5AlO15 (M = Sr,Ca, Ba) and mixed host aluminoborate phosphors

In this paper we report the modified solid state synthesis of Ce³⁺ activated Sr₆B₅AlO₁₅, Ca₆B₅AlO₁₅ Ba₆B₅AlO₁₅ and mixed host aluminoborate phosphors. The prepared phosphors were characterized by photoluminescence technique. The PL excitation spectra showed the excitation peaks ranging from 300 to 400 nm and emission spectra are observed in UV-blue region of spectrum and it varied for different hosts. This kind of emission is due to 4f⁶5d → 4f⁷ transition of Ce³⁺ ion. Further PLE and PL emission spectra for various compositions Ca₅Sr₁B₅AlO₁₅, Ca₄Sr₂B₅AlO₁₅, Ca₃Sr₃B₅AlO₁₅, Ca₂Sr₄B₅AlO₁₅, CaSr₅B₅AlO₁₅ are also taken which shows Ce³⁺ emission at 428 nm, 425 nm, 432 nm, 427 nm, 438 nm respectively. The calculated ²F_J (J = 7/2, 5/2) energy gap of Ce³⁺ in all hosts have been calculated and obtained values for Sr₆B₅AlO₁₅, Ba₆B₅AlO₁₅ phosphors are 1888 cm⁻¹ and 1330 cm⁻¹ respectively. PL emission spectra of mixed host aluminoborates have shown slight variations in positions of emission peaks.     

EPR and optical spectroscopy of the Tm2+ ion in the KMgF3 single crystal

Paramagnetic Tm²⁺ ion centers in the KMgF₃ single crystal have been studied by electron paramagnetic resonance and optical spectroscopy. The Stark level energies of the cubic Tm²⁺ multiplets have been established from the luminescence spectra and the crystal field parameters have been calculated. Information about the phonon spectra of KMgF₃ crystals has been obtained from the electron-vibrational structure of the optical luminescence spectra.     

The pressure response of Raman active phonon modes of Tm3Al5O12

Abstract

We present the Raman spectrum of Tm₃Al₅O₁₂ single crystal and its pressure dependence for hydrostatic pressure up to 11GPa and room temperature. Tm₃Al₅O₁₂ belongs to the crystal family of rare earth garnets (Re₃A1₂(AlO₄)₃, Re: Gd, Tb, Dy, Er,…), which crystallize in the body-centered cubic lattice and contains eight molecular units in the conventional unit cell, Group theory predicts 25 Raman active modes for these compounds, while experimentally are observed 15 modes. As crystal volume decreases all Raman peaks exhibit pressure coefficients varying from 0.7 to 5.6cm^?1/ GPa. A large part of the vibrational spectra of these compounds could be explained taking into account the vibrational properties of molecular subunits, namely AlO₄.     

Wide-band EPR spectroscopy of YAlO3: Tm3+ single crystals

The YAlO₃: Tm³⁺ single crystal has been studied on a wide-band EPR spectrometer. The EPR spectra of Tm³⁺ ions in the frequency range of 90–160 GHz have been detected for the first time. It has been confirmed that thulium ions substitute the position of Y³⁺ in the crystal lattice. The detected spectra have been described with the use of a spin Hamiltonian with the effective spin S = 1/2. A comparative analysis of the orientation of the magnetic axes of the Tm³⁺ paramagnetic center with earlier data on other rare-earth ions has been performed.     

Unusual Ln substitutional defects: The local chemical environment of Eu and Er in nanocrystalline Nb2O5 by Ln-K edge EXAFS

The local chemical environment of the trivalent lanthanide cations in Nb₂O₅ nanopowders doped with 1 mol% of Eu³⁺ and Er³⁺, prepared via a Pechini approach, has been studied by means of EXAFS at the Ln-K edge. It can be demonstrated that the lanthanide ions enter the Nb₂O₅ structure as substitutional defects with respect to Nb, giving rise to a very large amount of disorder: both Eu³⁺ and Er³⁺ ions substitute Nb in the nine-fold coordinated site, with clustering of oxygen vacancies around the substitutional defects. Valence bond calculations have been used to validate the Ln-O distances obtained by the EXAFS fitting. The Er³⁺-doped nanocrystalline Nb₂O₅ sample shows efficient luminescence in the near infrared region around 1.5 μm. The emission and excitation spectra are affected by significant inhomogeneous broadening, in agreement with the presence of strong disorder around the dopant ions in nanosized Nb₂O₅.     

Hydrothermal synthesis and the enhanced blue upconversion luminescence of NaYF4:Nd3+,Tm3+,Yb3+

Nd³⁺, Tm³⁺ and Yb³⁺ co-doped NaYF₄ upconversion (UC) material was synthesized by the hydrothermal method. The structure of the sample was characterized by the X-ray diffraction, and its UC luminescence properties were investigated in detail. Under the 980 nm semiconductor laser excitation, its UC spectra exhibited distinct emission peaks at 451 nm, 475 nm and 646 nm respectively. On the basis of the comparison of UC spectra between NaYF₄:Nd³⁺,Tm³⁺,Yb³⁺ and NaYF₄:Tm³⁺,Yb³⁺, it was indicated that the existence of Nd³⁺ ion enhanced the blue emission intensity. The law of luminescence intensity versus pump power proved that the blue emission at 475 nm, and the red emission at 646 nm were the two-photon processes, while the blue emission at 451 nm was a three-photon process.     

Structural changes of piezoelectric La3Ga5SiO14 induced by paramagnetic ions revealed by Ga multiple quantum magic angle spinning

Experimental evidence that nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) can detect structural changes of piezoelectric La₃Ga₅SiO₁₄ induced by dilute paramagnetic ions is presented. Gd³⁺ and Eu³⁺ cations have been incorporated into La₃Ga₅SiO₁₄ monocrystals. As expected, the line-width of the tetrahedral ²⁹Si magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectra as well as the inverse of the T₂ relaxation time of ⁷¹Ga increases with the concentration of the paramagnetic ions. A surprising result is shown by ⁷¹Ga multiple quantum (MQ) MAS NMR spectrum, which changes with the concentration of paramagnetic ions. The changes in the ⁷¹Ga MQMAS spectra can be explained by a more ordonated distribution of Ga ions inside the oxygen tetrahedra. The ⁷¹Ga MQMAS NMR spectra allow identification of the one octahedral and two tetrahedral Ga sites.     

Probing Membrane Surfaces and the Location of Membrane-Embedded Peptides by C MAS NMR Using Lanthanide Ions

A simple but efficient ¹³C MAS NMR method is presented for the determination of the location of embedded molecules such as peptides relative to biological membrane surfaces by exploiting the interaction with paramagnetic lanthanide ions. Using various aqueous Dy³⁺ concentrations a distance-dependent differential paramagnetic quenching of NMR lipid resonance intensities for specific carbon sites was observed, with residues at the bilayer surface quenched effectively and hydrophobic sites unaffected by Dy³⁺. Tested on the membrane-embedded 50 residue long M13 coat protein, ¹³C labeled at its Val-29 and Val-31 residues, no paramagnetic quenching was observed for the peptide resonances by Dy³⁺, suggesting that Val-29 and Val-31 are not in close proximity to the bilayer interface, but buried deeply inside the hydrophobic region of the lipid bilayer.     

Spectrophotometric and 27‐Al NMR Characterization of Aluminum(III) Complexes with l‐Histidine

Abstract

The complex formation between l‐histidine (HHis) and aluminum(III) ion in water solutions was studied by UV spectrophotometric and 27‐Al NMR measurements at 298 K. UV spectra were measured on solutions in which the total concentration of histidine was from 15.0 to 50.0 mmol/dm³ and the concentration ratio of histidine to aluminum was varied from 3∶1 to 10∶1 in the pH range between 4.2 and 6.0. The spectra were taken in the wavelength interval 240–340 nm. Nonlinear least‐squares treatment of the spectrophotometric data indicates the formation of the complexes Al(HHis)³⁺, Al(His)²⁺, Al(HHis)His²⁺, and Al₂(OH)His⁴⁺ with the overall formation constants β_p,q,r: log β_1,1,1=11.90±0.04, log β_1,1,0=7.25±0.08, log β_1,2,1=20.1±0.1, and log β_2,1,1=5.92±0.12 (p, q, r are stoichiometric indices for metal, ligand, and proton, respectively). ²⁷Al‐NMR spectra were taken on solutions with the concentration of aluminum 50 mmol/dm³ and that of histidine 250 mmol/dm³. In the pH interval 5.0–6.1, two resonances at 9.5 ppm and 12.0 ppm were assigned to Al(HHis)²⁺ and Al(HHis)(His)²⁺ (or Al(OH)(HHis)₂ ²⁺), respectively.     

Crystal fields of hexameric rare-earth clusters in fluorites

In solid solutions of alkaline-and rare-earth fluorides with a fluorite structure, ions of most elements of the rare-earth (RE) row form hexameric clusters that assimilate the minor component of the solid solutions (fluorine) and build it into the cubic fluorite lattice without changing its shape. An analysis of the EPR spectra of paramagnetic RE ions (Er³⁺, Tm³⁺, Yb³⁺) in clusters of diamagnetic ions (Lu³⁺, Y³⁺) confirms their hexagonal structure, which was established when studying the superstructures of the compounds under study. In such a cluster, a RE ion is in a nearly tetragonal crystal field, with the parameters of this field differing radically from those of single cubic and tetragonal RE centers in crystals with a fluorite structure. In particular, this field causes high (close to limiting) values of the g_∥ factors of the ground states of the paramagnetic RE ions. Computer simulation is used to determine the atomic structure of a hexameric cluster in MF₂ crystals (M = Ca, Sr, Ba). The crystal field and energy spectrum of Er³⁺, Tm³⁺, and Yb³⁺ ions in such clusters are calculated, and the spectroscopic parameters of the ground states of these ions are determined. The calculations confirm the earlier assumption that the unusual EPR spectra of nonstoichiometric fluorite phases are related to RE ions in hexameric clusters.     

Up-conversion photoluminescence characteristics of Yb3+:Er3+:Tm3+ co-doped borosilicate glasses

Yb3+:Er3+:Tm3+ co-doped borosilicate glasses are prepared.Their strong up-conversion photoluminescence spectra in a range from ultra-violet to near-infrared,which are excited by a 978-nm laser diode,are measured,and the mechanisms of energy transfer among Yb3+,Er3+ and Tm3+ ions are discussed.The results show that there is an unexpected wavelength at 900-nm emission from Yb3+ Stark splitting levels to pump Tm3+ ions and there exists an optimum pump power.The concentration of the Tm3+ dopant gives rise to a prominent effect on the intensity of visible and near-infrared emissions for the Yb3+:Er3+:Tm3+ co-doped borosilicate glasses.     

Solvothermal synthesis, cubic structure and multicolor upconversion emission of ultrasmall monodisperse lanthanide-doped BaYF5 nanocrystals

Lanthanide (Ln³⁺) doped BaYF₅ (Ln=Yb³⁺, Er³⁺, Tm³⁺) nanocrystals (NCs) with a mean size of approximately 10 nm are synthesized by a solvothermal method using oleic acid as a stabilizing agent at 210 °C. The size of BaYF₅ NCs can be controlled by simply tuning the reaction parameters such as reaction temperature, reaction time and the molar ratio of F⁻/Y³⁺. The detailed structure investigation reveals that the as-synthesized BaYF₅ NCs are in the cubic structure with space group Fm3¯m instead of the reported tetragonal structure. Ln³⁺ cations occupy crystal lattice positions with lower point symmetry, which may lead to high upconversion efficiency under the excitation of a 980 nm diode laser. By adjusting the dopant concentrations of Yb³⁺, Er³⁺ and Tm³⁺, intense near-infrared, blue, yellow and white upconversion emissions are readily realized, respectively. The desirable property of the ultrasmall monodisperse NCs makes it the promising material for the applications in miniaturized solid-state light sources, multicolor three-dimensional display devices and fluorescent labels for biomedicine imaging.     

Spectroscopy of thulium and holmium heavily doped tellurite glasses

In this study, we report spectroscopic properties of Tm³⁺ and Ho³⁺ codoped tellurite glasses over a wide dopant concentration range in order to assess their potential laser performance under 790 nm diode laser excitation. The impact of Tm³⁺ and Ho³⁺ concentrations is investigated to identify specific candidates for fiber laser operation. The emission cross section is calculated and discussed, as well as the gain coefficient of this type of glasses. Energy transfer microparameters and critical ion distances are determined for ³H₄, ³F₄ (Tm³⁺), and ⁵I₇ (Ho³⁺) emission levels in the framework of diffusion-limited regime and dipole–dipole interaction. We also report thermal properties of tested glasses.     

SPECTROSCOPIC INVESTIGATION ON THE PROPERTIES OF VISIBLE AND NEAR INFRARED EMISSIONS IN Tm3+, Ho3+ Co-DOPED YVO4 CRYSTALS

With the help of absorption and fluorescence spectra, the spectroscopic properties of Tm³⁺, Ho³⁺:YVO₄ crystals have been investigated under different dopant concentrations. The absorption results show that the maximum absorption in the spectral range of currently available powerful laser diodes (LD) is at 796 nm, corresponding to the transition ³H₆→³H₄ of Tm³⁺ in the crystals. Upon the excitation with a LD at 808 nm, we have detected ten fluorescence bands in the spectral range spanning from visible to infrared. In visible region 4 upconversion bands have been observed centered at 475, 547, 660, and 701 nm. Discussions of the energy transfer processes suggest that cross relaxations and excited absorptions with the involvement of Tm^{3+ 3}F₄, ³H₅ and Ho^{3+ 7}I₅ states are responsible for the four upconversion emissions. Comprising the relative integrated intersities of 2 μm (Ho³⁺: ⁵I₇→⁵I₈) and 1.8 μm (Tm³⁺: ³F_4→³H₆) bands we have observed an efficient energy transfer from Tm³⁺ (³F₄) to Ho³⁺ (⁵I₇). Examination of the ratios of the intensity of 2 μm band to that of 1.8 μm band as a function of the ratios of Tm³⁺ concentration (c_Tm) to Ho³⁺ concentration (c_Ho) indicates that small concentration ratios (c_Tm/c_Ho) lead to high efficient energy transfers of Tm³⁺(³F₄)→Ho³⁺(⁵I₇).     

Red, green and blue (RGB) emission doped Y3Al5O12 (YAG) phosphors prepared by non-hydrolytic sol-gel route

An evolutionary optimization process involving combination chemistry was employed in an attempt to develop Y₃Al₅O₁₂ (YAG). The combination chemistry process utilized here consisted the doping of the YAG host with appropriate amounts of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) dopants in a single layer, for use in tricolor white light. The doped YAG was acieved by means of the non-hydrolytic sol-gel route. Four samples were prepared, three of which were mono-doped samples containing 1.0% of a certain lanthanide (Eu³⁺, Tb³⁺, or Tm³⁺) ion, while the fourth contained the three ions. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffractometry and photoluminescence. The diffraction pattern of the mono-doped samples synthered at 800 °C for 16 h displayed peaks corresponding to the Y₃Al₅O₁₂ (YAG) phase, while the sample doped with the three ions revealed the presence of a mixture of Y₃Al₅O₁₂ (YAG) and Y₄Al₂O₉ (YAM) phases. The emission spectra of the three mono-doped YAG samples displayed the typical bands of the blue, green, and red emission of the corresponding lanthanide ions. As for the sample doped with the three lanthanide ions; it simultaneously emitted R, G and B lights. The green emission (546 nm) was more intense and narrow in relation to the red and blue emissions, which may be due to differences in the size of the three incorporated ions.     

Er3+，Tm3+共掺的NaY(WO4)2晶体的光谱分析和上转换发光

在室温下，测量了Er:Tm:NaY(WO₄)₂晶体的吸收光谱、激发光谱、发射光谱以及上转换发光，并运用J-O理论对测量的结果进行了计算，得出了Er:Tm:NaY(WO₄)₂晶体的强度参数.报道了Tm，Er离子间特殊的能量传递和相关上转换，解释了离子间的能级跃迁过程.同时，对于Er增强Tm离子近红外发光的特性也作了充分研究. 关键词： 4)₂晶体')" href="#">Er:Tm:NaY(WO₄)₂晶体 吸收光谱 发射光谱 激发光谱 上转换     

A 19F NMR Study on the Interaction of the Hexafluoroanions of Group IV Elements with Cations in Solutions

In view of previous studies of tetrafluoroborate solutions¹, it appeared interesting to continue further investigations on the interactions of fluorocomplexes with different cations, in general, and of the MF₆ ^2- fluoro complexes, in particular. In this communication, the high resolution ¹⁹F NMR data are given for the aqueous and water-acetone solutions of silicon, germanium, tin and titanium hexafluorocomplexes, containing paramagnetic (Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Cu²⁺, Cr³⁺) and diamagnetic (Be²⁺, Mg²⁺, Zn²⁺, NH₄ ⁺) cations.