Violet and blue upconversion luminescence in Tm3+/Yb3+ codoped Y2O3 transparent ceramic

Abstract

Tm 3 + / Yb 3 + codoped Y2O3 transparent ceramics were fabricated and characterized from the point of upconversion luminescence. All the samples exhibited high transparency not only in near-infrared band but also in visible region. Under 980 nm excitation, the ceramics gave upconversion luminescence with very intense blue (485 nm) and considerably intense violet (360 nm) emissions. It was worthy to point out that the upconversion luminescence contained six emission bands, which dispersed in the region from 294 to 809 nm. The strongest blue emission (485 nm) was obtained with (Tm0.002Yb0.03Y0.958Zr0.01)2O3 ceramic (Yb/Tm=15). The mechanism of all upconversion emission bands were investigated in detail. The absorption, emission, and gain cross-section of blue emission (485 nm) were calculated, which indicated that Tm3+/Yb3+ codoped Y2O3 transparent ceramic has tremendous potential in short wavelength laser.