Design of opposite thermal behaviors in Tm3+/Eu3+ co-doped YVO4 for high-sensitivity optical thermometry.

Abstract

Temperature-induced redshift of the V-O charge transfer band edge and the temperature quenching effect were combined for designing ratiometric optical thermometry. Following this approach, opposite thermal behaviors of Tm3+ and Eu3+ emissions were realized in the range of 300 to 380 K in Tm3+/Eu3+ co-doped YVO4. Applying the temperature dependent fluorescence intensity ratio of Eu3+ to Tm3+ as temperature readout, the maximal relative sensitivity reaches up to 4.6%K-1 around 330 K. This result makes our proposed strategy an excellent candidate for developing high-sensitivity optical thermometry.