Visible Up-Conversion Luminescence in Ho3+: BaTiO3 Nano-Crystals Prepared by Sol Gel Technique

Visible up-conversion emissions at (435, 545, 580, 675 and 690 nm) and (437, 547 575 and 675 nm) have been observed from the sol-gel derived nano-crystalline Ho³⁺: BaTiO₃ powders and thin films respectively, under 808 nm laser diode excitation emissions. Combined with the energy level structure of Ho³⁺ ions and the kinetics of the visible emissions, the up-conversion mechanism has been analyzed and explained. The blue, green and red emissions of both samples has been attributed to the ground state-directed transition from (⁵F₁), (⁵S₂) and (⁵F₅), which are populated through excited state absorption (ESA) for 808 nm excitation. Nano-structure pure barium titanate and doped with different concentrations of Ho³⁺ ions in the from of powder and thin film have been prepared by sol-gel technique, using barium acetate (Ba(Ac)₂), and titanium butoxide (Ti(C₄H₉O)₄), as precursors. The thin films were prepared by sol-gel spin coating method. The as-grown thin films and powders were found to be amorphous, which crystallized to the tetragonal phase after heating at 750°C in air for 30 minutes. The crystallite sizes of the thin film and powder both doped with 4% Ho³⁺ ions was found to be equal to 11 and 16 nm, respectvely.