Simultaneous coloration erasure and significant photoluminescence enhancement via vacuum re-annealing in lanthanide-doped transparent ceramics

A simple and efficient route for the coloration erasure and significant photoluminescence enhancement of lanthanide-doped transparent ceramics was novelly developed in this work. As for the illustrative examples, full-band high transparency and efficient luminescence of YZO:Tb and YZO:Pr ceramics were received after air annealing plus vacuum re-annealing processes. The defect clusters [Ln(Y)(4+)-O2--Ln(Y)(4+)] and [Ln(Y)(4+)-e'] were also proposed for the relevant reaction mechanisms involving air annealing and vacuum re-annealing processes. Insight in the vacuum re-annealing strategy might open up a path towards controllably tailoring the optical transmission and transition properties of lanthanide-doped highly transparent ceramics.

Automated summary

In this work, a simple and efficient route for the coloration erasure and significant photoluminescence enhancement of lanthanide-doped transparent ceramics was developed. The full-band high transparency and efficient luminescence of YZO:Tb and YZO:Pr ceramics were achieved through air annealing plus vacuum re-annealing processes. The proposed defect clusters [Ln(Y)(4+)-O2--Ln(Y)(4+)] and [Ln(Y)(4+)-e'] provide insights into the relevant reaction mechanisms. The vacuum re-annealing strategy opens up a path towards controllably tailoring the optical properties of lanthanide-doped highly transparent ceramics.