Tailoring Er3+ spectrally pure upconversion in bulk nano-glass-ceramics via lanthanide doping

Lanthanide doped nano-glass-ceramics containing NaLuF4 particles were successfully prepared by the melt-quenching and subsequent glass crystallization. Elemental mappings in nanoscale and optical spectroscopy analyses evidenced the incorporation of lanthanide dopants into the NaLuE4 crystalline lattice. Impressively, the extra addition of specific Ce3+ or Tm3+ ions into Yb/Er doped nano-glass-ceramics induced the modification of Er3+ upconversion luminescent color from yellow to pure red, while the Pr3+ or Ho3+ doping was beneficial to the dominant green upconversion emission of Er3+. Ultimately, the impact of these dopants on the competition of radiation transitions from the two intermediate excited states of Er3+:H-2(11/2),S-4(3/2) (green-emitting) and Er3+:F-4(9/2) (red-emitting) was analyzed and discussed in detail. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.