Synthesis and up-conversion luminescence properties of Ho3+-Yb3+ co-doped glass ceramics containing Sr3Gd(PO4)3

Abstract

Ho3+-Yb3+ co-doped transparent glass ceramics containing Sr3Gd(PO4)3 were successfully prepared by the melt crystallization method. The best condition of the thermal treatment was determined to be 780 °C/3 h by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The transmittance of glass ceramic was approximately 81% in the visible region. From to the up-conversion emission spectra, the strong green emission (543 nm), weak red (654 nm) and blue emission (483 nm) due to the 5F4/5S2, 5F5, 5F3 → 5I8 transitions of Ho3+ can be observed. In addition, the optimum doping concentration of Ho2O3 and Yb2O3 was 0.3% and 0.8%, respectively. By comparing 0.3%Ho2O3-0.8%Yb2O3 co-doped with 0.3%Ho2O3 doped glass ceramic, the green and red up-conversion luminescence intensity were improved by about 33 times and 21 times, respectively. These results indicated that Ho3+-Yb3+ co-doped transparent glass ceramic containing Sr3Gd(PO4)3 have potential applications in the field of green up-conversion luminescence.