Luminescence, optical and temperature sensitive characteristics of Tm3+ /Yb3+ doped fluoride phosphosilicate glass ceramics

Abstract

Yb3+/Tm3+ doped fluoride phosphosilicate glass ceramics with Sr6Ca4(PO4)6F2 nanocrystals were prepared by the controlled crystallization method. The research results of up-conversion (UC) spectra showed that the optimal dopant concentration of Yb3+ and Tm3+ was 3.0 and 0.1 mol%, respectively. In the visible range, the transmissivity of the precursor glass (PG) was close to 90%, while that of glass ceramics was approximately 82%. And the luminescence intensity of glass ceramics was stronger than that of PG. The Rietveld XRD refinement results confirmed that Yb3+ and Tm3+ ions partially entered the Sr6Ca4(PO4)6F2 crystal to form the solid solution. The highest relative sensitivity (Sr-max) of glass ceramics based on thermally coupled energy levels (TCELs) was 2.77% K-1 (@298 K). In view of non-TCELs, the highest absolute sensitivity (Sa-max) of glass ceramics was 12.21% K-1 (@698 K). These findings demonstrate that the as-prepared glass ceramic can be expected to be suitable for optical temperature sensing applications.