Thermally stable white light emission and energy transfer analysis of tungstate-tellurite glasses co-activated with Dy3+/Eu3+ for optoelectronic applications

Abstract

In this study, dual ions (Dy3+/Eu3+) doped tungstate-tellurite (TWKZBi: Dy3+/Eu3+) glass matrices have been formed with the help of the melt quenching approach. The structural, thermal, morphological, and photoluminescent (PL) characteristics, as well as the energy transfer (ET) processes were thoroughly investigated. The structural features of the titled glasses have been explored via X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The morphology and elemental studies of the titled glass matrices were verified with the help of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) along with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The PL results designate that the TWKZBi doped with Dy3+ ions glass samples exhibit a strong emission peak at 575 nm when excited via n-UV light, whereas Eu3+ doped TWKZBi glass sample demonstrates a conspicuous red emission band at 614 nm when stimulated with the n-UV light. In addition, TWKZBi glasses doped with both Dy3+ and Eu3+ ions demonstrate the emission peaks in the blue (B), yellow (Y) and red (R) zones of the electromagnetic spectrum. The combination of these peaks generates white and orange-red light through properly controlling the activator ion concentrations and selected excitations. Based on Dexter's and Reisfeld's approximation, dipole-dipole (d-d) interaction is responsible for the transfer of energy from donor (Dy3+) to accepter (Eu3+) ions. The decay profiles demonstrate the bi-exponential behavior with a decline in the average lifetime (τavg) values as varying activator (Eu3+) ion concentrations in the titled TWKZBi: Dy3+/Eu3+ glasses. All the results above validate that the titled TWKZBi: Dy3+/Eu3+ glass samples could be fascinating for white LEDs and other optoelectronic applications.