Efficient Near Infrared to Visible and Near‐Infrared Upconversion Emissions in Transparent (Tm3+, Er3+)‐α‐Sialon Ceramics

Abstract

Intense visible and near‐infrared frequency upconversion and a frequency downconversion photoluminescence have been reported for the first time in Tm3+ and Er3+ co‐doped transparent α‐Sialon ceramics under 980 nm excitation. The α‐Sialon ceramics were prepared by hot‐press sintering technique. Intense upconversion bands at 554, 678, 803 nm, and a downconversion band at 1530 nm were observed as a result of the efficient energy transfer between Er3+ and Tm3+ ions. The quadratic dependence of upconversion intensities on the excitation power indicates that the upconversion process is governed by two‐photon absorption process. The sintered samples of thickness 0.20 mm have transparency above 80% in the range of 2000 to 4200 nm and it reaches as high as 82% at 3350 nm. Moderately low phonon energy was found with the highest frequency band at 828 cm−1. These novel properties manifest the potential applications of transparent α‐Sialon ceramics as a multifunctional material.