Upconversion luminescence from Er-N codoped of ZnO nanowires prepared by ion implantation method

Nitrogen and erbium co-doped of ZnO nanowires (NWs) are fabricated by ion implantation and subsequent annealing in air. The incorporation of Er³⁺ and N⁺ ions is verified by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Raman spectra. The samples exhibit upconversion photoluminescence around ∼550 nm and ∼660 nm under an excitation at 980 nm. It is discovered that the N-doped can drastically increase the upconversion photoluminescence intensity by modifying the local structure around Er³⁺ in ZnO matrix. The enhancement of the PL intensity by the N-doped is caused by the formation of ErO_6−xN_x octahedron complexes. With the increase of the annealing temperature (T_a), the Er³⁺ ions diffuse towards the surface of the NWs, which benefits the red emission and evokes the variation of intensity ratio owing to the existence of some organic groups.     

Influence of the SiO thickness on the photoluminescence properties of Er-doped SiO/SiO2 multilayers

Er-doped SiO single layer and Er-doped SiO/SiO₂ multilayers with different SiO thicknesses were prepared by evaporation. In the as-deposited samples, the erbium ions exhibit a very weak photoluminescence emission at 1.54 μm. This luminescence is strongly enhanced after annealing treatments between 500 and 1050 °C, with an optimal annealing temperature which is dependent from the SiO thickness. For the SiO single layer, this optimal temperature is around 700 °C while it is shifted at highest temperature for the multilayers. The origin of the higher luminescence intensity in the SiO layer is also discussed.     

Thermal stability and spectroscopic properties of Er-doped lead fluorogermanate glasses

The thermal characterization and spectroscopic properties of Er³⁺-doped 0.6GeO₂-(0.4-x)PbO-xPbF₂ glasses were investigated experimentally. With the replacement of PbO by PbF₂ the thermal stability of glasses is improved and the infrared fluorescence intensity at 1530 nm is increased. The Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters, radiative transition rates, and fluorescence lifetimes of the excited ⁴I_13/2 level of Er³⁺ ions were calculated from Judd-Ofelt theory. The asymmetric ligand field around Er³⁺ ions resulted from the incorporation of PbF₂ into germanate glasses, broadens the infrared emission spectra at 1530 nm. Upconversion luminescence in the investigated glasses was observed at room temperature under the excitation of 976 nm laser diode. The glass 0.6GeO₂-0.3PbO-0.1PbF₂ exhibits the maximum upconversion emission intensity, while no frequency upconversion luminescence was observed in the 0.6GeO₂-0.4PbO glass. The quadratic dependence of the green and red emissions on excitation power indicates that two-photon absorption contributes to the visible emission under the 976-nm excitation.     

Growth,characterization and upconversion properties of erbium-doped potassium lithium tantalate niobate single crystals under 975 nm laser excitation

Potassium lithium tantalate niobate single crystals doped with erbium ions are grown by top-seeded solution growth method. The crystals are characterized by X-ray diffraction and differential thermal analysis. The refractive indices of the crystal are measured using ellipsometry method and fitted by Sellmeier equation. The as-grown crystals are tetragonal phase tungsten bronze-type structure with Curie temperature of 271.3 °C. Characteristic Er^3 + absorption bands are observed from 350 to 1100 nm in ultraviolet–visible-near infrared absorption spectra. These crystals emit brightly green and red upconversion fluorescence under 975 nm LD laser excitation, and the steady state upconversion spectra are obtained at room temperature. The red emission intensity increases as the erbium ions concentration increases in crystals. Processes of excited state absorption and energy transfer are responsible for upconversion luminescence. The emission intensities are quadratic dependences on pump power from pump power dependence analyses and deduction of transition rate equation model.     

Effect of annealing temperature on luminescence of Eu ions doped nanocrystal zirconia

Effect of annealing temperature on luminescence of Eu³⁺ ions was studied in nanocrystal zirconia prepared by co-precipitation. The XRDs reveal with annealing temperature increasing the tetragonal crystal phase of the samples is stable. The emission spectra show the strong emission at 595 and 604 nm at 394 nm excitation. Under continuous UV (394 nm) irradiation the 604 nm emission intensity changes of the samples show as a function of irradiation time. In addition, the charge-transfer states of the samples are affected by the annealing temperature. These are associated with the defects at/in the surface of the nanocrystalline ZrO₂ with Eu³⁺ ions.     

Hydrothermal synthesis of Er-doped yttria nanorods with enhanced red emission via upconversion

(Y_0.95Er_0.05)₂O₃ single-crystalline nanorods with intense red emission via up-conversion are synthesized by a hydrothermal method under modest reaction conditions. Green and red emissions are observed for both as-synthesized sample and post-treated sample after excitation at 488 nm and with upconversion pumping (810 nm). The experimental results indicate that the stokes and up-conversion luminescence of the post-treated (500 °C for 2 h) Y₂O₃:Er nanorods is more efficient than those of as-prepared materials. The increase of the Stokes luminescence may result from the improved crystallization, smooth surface and uniform diameter distribution. The enhanced red emission via upconversion is due to removal of part of surface contaminants, such as CO₃²⁻ and OH⁻. It is believed that a new mechanism is responsible for populating the ⁴S_3/2 and ⁴F_9/2 levels.     

Infrared and visible spectroscopic studies of the ytterbium doped borate Li6Y(BO3)3

The spectroscopic study of trivalent ytterbium doped Li₆Y(BO₃)₃ is conducted in the UV-visible and infrared range. An excitation in the charge transfer band of ytterbium has been selected in order to reduce the reabsorption effect on the IR emission intensity. The maximum of the emission is located at 972 nm for an excitation at 230 nm. The energy level assignment has been successfully conducted using vibrational spectroscopy to distinguish the pure electronic transitions from the phonon-assisted ones. The splitting of the ²F_5/2 and ²F_7/2 components is equal to 523 cm⁻¹ and 676 cm⁻¹, respectively. The decay time dependence as a function of the concentration is also reported. The calculated value τ_rad is about (1.03 ± 0.01) ms for the 1% doped material. For the highest concentration, an IR excitation gives rise to the observation of a blue-green luminescence caused by two mechanisms: an erbium emission at 550 nm after upconversion and a cooperative luminescence of ytterbium ions.     

Synthesis process and the luminescence properties of rare earth doped NaLa(WO4)2 nanoparticles

Rare earth doped NaLa(WO₄)₂ nanoparticles have been prepared by a simply hydrothermal synthesis procedure. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern shows that the Eu³⁺-doped NaLa(WO₄)₂ nanoparticles with an average size of 10-30 nm can be obtained via hydrothermal treatment for different time at 180 °C. The luminescence intensity of Eu³⁺-doped NaLa(WO₄)₂ nanoparticles depended on the size of the nanoparticles. The bright upconversion luminescence of the 2 mol% Er³⁺ and 20 mol% Yb³⁺ codoped NaLa(WO₄)₂ nanoparticles under 980 nm excitation could also be observed. The Yb³⁺-Er³⁺ codoped NaLa(WO₄)₂ nanoparticles prepared by the hydrothermal treatment at 180 °C and then heated at 600 °C shows a 20 times stronger upconversion luminescence than those prepared by hydrothermal treatment at 180 °C or by hydrothermal treatment at 180 °C and then heated at 400 °C.     

Upconversion luminescence and mechanisms in Yb-sensitized Tm-doped oxyhalide tellurite glasses

Effect of Yb₂O₃ content on upconversion luminescence and mechanisms in Yb³⁺-sensitized Tm³⁺-doped oxyhalide tellurite glasses were investigated under 980 nm excitation. Intense blue and relatively weak red upconversion emission centered at 476 and 649 nm corresponding to the transitions ¹G₄→³H₆ and ¹G₄→³H₄ of Tm³⁺, respectively, are simultaneously observed at room temperature. The results show that upconversion blue and red emission intensities of Tm³⁺ first increase, reach its maximum at Yb₂O₃%=3 mol%, and then decrease with increasing Yb₂O₃ content. The effect of Yb₂O₃ content on upconversion intensity is discussed, and possible effect mechanisms are evaluated. The investigated results were conducing to increase upconversion luminescence efficiency of Tm³⁺.     

Upconversion dynamics in Er-doped YAG

Green, blue, violet and ultraviolet upconversion luminescence is reported at room temperature in a YAG: 10.5%Er³⁺ crystal pumped by one-colour (647 nm) and two-colour (647+618 nm) laser excitation. The upconversion mechanism was studied by means of time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy and the energy flow pathways are described. Based on the results it appears that energy transfer upconversion is the dominant contribution to the upconverted luminescence upon 647 nm excitation, and excited state absorption is the dominating mechanism upon 647+618 nm excitation.     

Upconversion luminescence in Er-doped germanate-oxyfluoride and tellurium-germanate-oxyfluoride transparent glass-ceramics

Upconversion luminescence has been studied for Er³⁺ in a germanate-oxyfluoride and a tellurium-germanate-oxyfluoride transparent glass-ceramic using 800 nm excitation. Significantly increased upconversion luminescence was observed from transparent glass-ceramics compared with that from their corresponding as-prepared glasses. In addition to a strong green emission centered at 545 nm from ⁴S_3/2 state and a weaker red emission centered at 662 nm from ⁴F_9/2 state generally seen from Er³⁺-doped glasses, a violet emission centered at 410 nm from ²H_9/2 state and a near-ultra-violet emission centered at 379 nm from ⁴G_11/2 state were also observed from transparent glass-ceramics. The upconversion luminescence of Er³⁺ ions in transparent glass-ceramics revealed sharp Stark-splitting peaks generally seen in a crystal host. The increased upconversion efficiency is attributed to the decreased effective phonon energy and the increased energy transfer between excited ions when Er³⁺ ions were incorporated into the precipitated β-PbF₂ nanocrystals.     

Luminescence studies on lanthanide ions (Eu, Dy and Tb) doped YAG:Ce nano-phosphors

Yttrium aluminum garnet nanoparticles both undoped and doped with lanthanide ions (Ce³⁺, Eu³⁺, Dy³⁺ and Tb³⁺) having average size around 30 (±3 nm) nm were prepared by glycine nitrate combustion method followed by annealing at a relatively low temperature of 800 °C. Increase in the annealing temperature has been found to improve the luminescence intensity and for 1200 °C heated samples there exists strong energy transfer from Tb³⁺ to Ce³⁺ ions in YAG:Ce(2%),Tb(2%) nanoparticles as revealed by luminescence studies. Co-doping the YAG:Ce nanoparticles with Eu³⁺ results in significant decrease in the emission intensity of both Ce³⁺ and Eu³⁺ ions and this has been attributed to the oxidation of Ce³⁺ to Ce⁴⁺ and reduction of Eu³⁺ to Eu²⁺ ions. Dy³⁺ co-doping did not have any effect on the Ce³⁺ emission as there is no energy transfer between Dy³⁺ and Ce³⁺ ions.     

Effect of ZnO as modifier on up and downconversion properties of Ho/Yb doped tellurite glasses

Optical absorption and photoluminescent properties of Ho³⁺/Yb³⁺ co-doped tellurite and zinc tellurite glasses are investigated. The effect of zinc oxide as a modifier on the luminescence properties of above mentioned samples has been explored. Two intense upconversion emission bands centered at 546 (⁵F₄ + ⁵S₂ → ⁵I₈) and 660 nm (⁵F₅ → ⁵I₈) are observed on excitation with 976 nm diode laser. Zinc oxide acts as a quencher for 976 nm excited upconversion emission. The up and downconversion emission spectra are recorded with 532 nm excitation source also. In this case zinc oxide improves the up and downconversion emissions. A large enhancement in upconversion intensity has been observed when Ho³⁺ ion is co-doped with Yb³⁺ ion. The dependence of upconversion intensities on excitation power and on temperature has also been studied. The power dependence study shows a quadratic dependence of the fluorescence intensity on the excitation power while a decrement in emission intensity of all the transitions at different rates with increase in temperature is observed in temperature dependence study. The possible mechanisms are also discussed in order to understand the upconversion and energy transfer processes.     

Simultaneous three-photon absorption induced ultraviolet upconversion in Pr:Y2SiO5 crystal by femtosecond laser irradiation

Near-infrared to ultraviolet upconversion luminescence was observed in the Pr³⁺:Y₂SiO₅ crystal with 120 fs, 800 nm infrared laser irradiation. The observed emissions at around 270 nm and 305 nm could be assigned to 5d → 4f transitions of Pr³⁺ ions. The relationship between the upconversion luminescence intensity and the pump power of the femtosecond laser reveals that the UV emission belongs to simultaneous three-photon absorption induced upconversion luminescence.     

Green and red Anti-Stokes emission of U3+: LaCl3produced by infrared laser

Anti-Stokes green and red emission from U3+: LaCl3 can be produced by infrared laser excitation at 975.3 nm, 977.7 nm and 979.4 nm at 8K. The upconversion luminescence intensity dependence upon the excitation laser power was measured and analyzed. The results show that depending on the excitation wavelength, the mechanisms responsible for the upconversion process are two-photon absorption and excited-state absorption.     

Spectroscopic properties of OH doped and Bi-rich Bi4Ge3O12 crystals by vertical Bridgman method

OH⁻ doped and Bi-rich Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂ (BGO) single crystals were grown by Vertical Bridgman (VB) method. The structure of these crystals was determined by XRD, and the emission spectra in visible and near infrared region (NIR) were measured at room temperature. The emission spectrum of Bi-rich BGO has extra peaks at 385, 367 and 357 nm, Bi-rich BGO after annealing in Ar at 500 °C for 5 h shows a significant emission band peaking around 1170 nm under 808 nm laser diodes (LDs) excitation, and OH⁻ doped BGO shows a noticeable emission band centered at about 1346 nm under 980 nm LDs excitation. A brief discussion is presented.     

Kinetics of luminescence of interface defects and resonant Er ions in nanostructured SnO2:SiO2

Silica glass with SnO₂ nanocrystals and Er³⁺ ions are prepared by the sol-gel route and treatment above 1000 °C. Transmission electron microscopy evidences a homogeneous dispersion of nanoclusters 4-6 nm in size in the amorphous silica matrix. Photoluminescence spectra excited at 3.5 eV, outside erbium transitions, show an inhomogeneous spectral distribution of light emission from interface defects, in the range 1.9-2.4 eV, resonant with transitions of erbium ions. The analysis of kinetics and temperature dependence of luminescence allows to quantify the efficiency of the energy transfer channel between nanoclusters and erbium ions.     

Synthesis and luminescence properties of nanocrystalline Gd2O3:Eu by combustion process

The nanocrystalline Gd₂O₃:Eu³⁺ powders with cubic phase were prepared by a combustion method in the presence of urea and glycol. The effects of the annealing temperature on the crystallization and luminescence properties were studied. The results of XRD show pure phase can be obtained, the average crystallite size could be calculated as 7, 8, 15, and 23 nm for the precursor and samples annealed at 600, 700 and 800 °C, respectively, which coincided with the results from TEM images. The emission intensity, host absorption and charge transfer band intensity increased with increasing the temperature. The slightly broad emission peak at 610 nm for smaller particles can be observed. The ratio of host absorption to O²⁻-Eu³⁺ charge transfer band of smaller nanoparticles is much stronger compared with that for larger nanoparticles, furthermore, the luminescence lifetimes of nanoparticles increased with increasing particles size. The effects of doping concentration of Eu³⁺ on luminescence lifetimes and intensities were also discussed. The samples exhibited a higher quenching concentration of Eu³⁺, and luminescence lifetimes of nanoparticles are related to annealing temperature of samples and the doping concentration of Eu³⁺ ions.     

Combustion synthesis and luminescence properties of NaY1−xEux(WO4)2 phosphors

The red phosphors NaY_1−xEu_x(WO₄)₂ with different concentrations of Eu³⁺ were synthesized via the combustion synthesis method. As a comparison, NaEu(WO₄)₂ was prepared by the solid-state reaction method. The phase composition and optical properties of as-synthesized samples were studied by X-ray powder diffraction and photoluminescence spectra. The results show that the red light emission intensity of the combustion synthesized samples under 394 nm excitation increases with increase in Eu³⁺ concentrations and calcination temperatures. Without Y ions doping, the emission spectra intensity of the NaEu(WO₄)₂ phosphor prepared by the combustion method fired at 900 °C is higher than that prepared by the solid-state reaction at 1100 °C. NaEu(WO₄)₂ phosphor synthesized by the combustion method at 1100 °C exhibits the strongest red emission under 394 nm excitation and appropriate CIE chromaticity coordinates (x=0.64, y=0.33) close to the NTSC standard value. Thus, its excellent luminescence properties make it a promising phosphor for near UV InGaN chip-based red-emitting LED application.     

Upconverted VUV luminescence of Nd and Er doped into LiYF4 crystals under XeF-laser excitation

The upconverted VUV (185 nm) and UV (230 and 260 nm) luminescence due to 5d-4f radiative transitions in Nd³⁺ ions doped into a LiYF₄ crystal has been obtained under excitation by 351/353 nm radiation from a XeF excimer laser. The maximum upconversion efficiency, defined as the ratio of intensity for 5d-4f luminescence to overall intensity for 5d-4f and 4f-4f luminescence from the ⁴D_3/2 Nd³⁺ level, has been estimated to be about 70% under optimal focusing conditions for XeF laser radiation. A redistribution of intensity between three main components of 5d-4f Nd³⁺ luminescence is observed under changing the excitation power density, which favors the most long-wavelength band (260 nm) at higher excitation density level. The effect is interpreted as being due to excited state absorption of radiation emitted. The upconverted VUV and UV luminescence from the high-lying ²F(2)_7/2 4f level of Er³⁺ doped into a LiYF₄ crystal has also been obtained under XeF-laser excitation the most intense line being at 280 nm from the spin-allowed transition to the ²H(2)_11/2 4f level of Er³⁺, but the efficiency of upconversion for Er³⁺ emission is low, less than 5%.