Up- and Downconversion Luminescence in Ho<sup>3+</sup>,Yb<sup>3+</sup>-Co-Doped Y<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> Transparent Ceramics Prepared by Spark Plasma Sintering

Abstract

We employed spark plasma sintering (SPS) in the presence of sintering aids to fabricate highquality Ho3+,Yb3+-co-doped Y2O3 transparent ceramics suitable for use as a laser gain medium, and analyzed their microstructure and optical properties. Ho3+,Yb3+-co-doped Y2O3 transparent ceramics with different contents of Yb3+ were fabricated by SPS and exhibited high transparency in both near-infrared and visible regions. All specimens showed high transparency in both the near-infrared and visible-light regions, and sample microstructure was almost unaffected by the amount of doped Yb3+. The transmission spectra of 1 mol% Yb3+ doped specimens exhibited transmissivities of 73.4 and 81.0% at wavelengths of 700 and 1500 nm, respectively. Relatively high transmissivity was quickly achieved through the addition of a sintering aid (1 mol% La2O3) which accelerated mass transport during sintering. The effect of Yb3+ doping on the upconversion photoluminescence of Y2O3:Ho3+,Yb3+ was examined. Irradiation at 980 nm resulted in strong green photoluminescence (552 nm) and weak red photoluminescence (669 nm). Excitation at 447 and 980 nm resulted in strong green emission (5F4, 5S2 → 5I8) from Ho3+. The effects of Yb3+ content and laser input power on emission intensity and luminescence decay were investigated in detail. Under excitation at 980 nm, the presence of Yb3+ increased emission intensity over the entire range, while the opposite behavior was observed under excitation at 447 nm. (Received May 3, 2019; Accepted July 10, 2019)