Energy transfer dynamics in thermally stable Sm3+/ Eu3+ co-doped AEAlBS glasses for near UV triggered photonic device applications

Abstract

Transparent, Sm3+/Eu3+ co-doped alkaline earth alumino borosilicate (AEAlBS) glasses have been synthesized by employing melt quenching process and explored their down-shifting luminescent properties to understand their utility in visible red photonic devices applications. The amorphous (non-crystalline) nature of the as-prepared glasses was analyzed with help of an X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) pattern, containing a broad peak. Photoluminescence (PL) properties demonstrate that the glasses can be proficiently excited by near-UV with a dominant peak centered at 402 nm. The PL emission spectra exhibit four emission peaks with an intense peak placed at 599 nm under 402 nm excitation. The optimum emission intensity was obtained for 0.5 mol% Sm3+ ions doped in AEAlBS glasses. In the present work, Sm3+ ion is acting as an effective sensitizer for Eu3+ activator in AEAlBS glasses, and part of energy gets transferred from sensitizer (Sm3+) to activator (Eu3+) ions. The PL intensity of Eu3+ ions is increasing at the expense of a decrease in the intensity of Eu3+ ion peaks in the co-doping AEAlBS glasses at λex = 402 nm. The efficient ET from sensitizer to activator ions proved to be dipole-dipole in nature via employing Dexter's formula with Reisfeld's approximation. The experimental lifetime values calculated from the PL decay profiles are decreasing with the surge in Eu3+ ion concentration in the as-prepared glasses. Inokuti Hirayama (I-H) model applied to the PL decay profiles confirms the ET process responsible for a decrease in experimental lifetimes as dipole-dipole in nature. The outcome of the I-H model is in consonance with the result given by Dexter theory. The CIE coordinates for single Sm3+ doped glasses are falling in the orange region and gradually surge into the red region by co-doping with Eu3+ ions in AEAlBS glasses. The temperature-dependent emission analysis reveals that the PL intensity at 150 °C and 200 °C perseveres up to 94.34 and 91.30% of the PL intensity at ambient temperature, respectively. All the obtained results contemplate the superiority of the multifunctional Sm3+/Eu3+ co-doped AEAlBS glasses for near UV triggered photonic device applications.