Quantum cutting properties of Tb3+/Yb3+ co-doped ZrO2-SiO2 nano-crystalized glasses synthesized via a sol-gel route

Tb3+/Yb3+ co-doped ZrO2-SiO2 nano-crystallized glasses were prepared by a sol-gel process. The crystal structure and optical properties including down-conversion photoluminescence (or, quantum cutting) of the Tb3+-Yb3+ system with respect to gel heat treatment temperature were investigated by X-ray...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of alloys and compounds 2019-04, Vol.781, p.315-320
Main Authors: Isogai, Masato, Hayakawa, Tomokatsu, Duclère, Jean-René, Thomas, Phlippe
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemical Sciences
Crystal structure
Crystallization
Cutting
Efficiency
Energy conversion efficiency
Energy transfer
Engineering Sciences
Heat treatment
Material chemistry
Materials
Optical properties
Oxidation
Photoluminescence
Photons
Quantum cutting
Silicon dioxide
Sol-gel method
Sol-gel processes
Tb3+-Yb3+ pair
Tb4+ ions
Valence
X-ray diffraction
Ytterbium
Zirconium dioxide
ZrO2 nanocrystals
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Summary:Tb3+/Yb3+ co-doped ZrO2-SiO2 nano-crystallized glasses were prepared by a sol-gel process. The crystal structure and optical properties including down-conversion photoluminescence (or, quantum cutting) of the Tb3+-Yb3+ system with respect to gel heat treatment temperature were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, photoluminescence (PL), and PL decay curves analysis. The energy transfer efficiency from Tb3+ to Yb3+ ions, which converts one photon to two photons with lower energy, increased with heat-treatment temperature. Furthermore, the oxidation state of Tb4+ ions was suspected to influence the emission intensity of Tb3+ and energy conversion efficiency. Thus, a post-treatment reduction was applied to the sample heated at 1100 °C by annealing it at 1100 °C for 1 h under 5%H2/95%N2 reductive atmosphere. Consequently, the thermodynamically generated Tb4+ ions were reduced to a trivalent state, leading to higher energy transfer efficiency. [Display omitted] •Sol-gel method was applied to fabricate transparent Tb3+/Yb3+ co-doped ZrO2-SiO2 nanocomposites.•Thermal evolution of the precipitation of ZrO2 nanocrystals in SiO2 glass was investigated.•Tb3+-Yb3+ quantum cutting properties in ZrO2 nanocrystals was studied.•The high quantum cutting efficiency of 183% was obtained.•The impact of Tb valence state on the quantum cutting behavior was elucidated.
ISSN:0925-8388
1873-4669
DOI:10.1016/j.jallcom.2018.11.380