Luminescence and energy transfer studies of Eu3+-Tb3+ co-doped transparent glass ceramics containing BaMoO4 crystallites

The Tb3+ mono-doped and Eu3+-Tb3+ co-doped transparent glass-ceramics (GCs) were fabricated via melt-quenching technique and subsequent heating. The crystal structural and luminescence properties of the samples were systematically investigated via X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmittance, excitation and emission spectra, and fluorescence lifetime, respectively. The emission spectra of Tb3+ mono-doped GCs are composed of several sharp emission lines about at 410 nm, 436 nm, 488 nm, 545 nm, 587 nm and 622 nm, respectively. Among them, when the Tb3+ mono-doped concentration is 0.7mol%, the brightest green light is generating at 545 nm due to D-5(4) -> F-7(5) transition of Tb3+ ions. The effective energy transfer from Tb3+ to Eu3+ was observed by fluorescence spectra and fluorescence lifetimes of Eu3+-Tb3+ co-doped GCs. In addition, the emission of Eu3+-Tb3+ co-doped GCs from light green-white-yellow can be achieved by adjusting the doping concentration of Eu3+ and Tb3+. These results indicate that Eu3+-Tb3+ co-doped GCs have potential applications in the field of white light emitting diodes (w-LEDs). (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.