E. B. da Costa

White light generation by frequency upconversion in Tm3+∕Ho3+∕Yb3+-codoped fluorolead germanate glass

White light was produced exploiting an additive synthesis of red, green, and blue fluorescence through frequency upconversion in fluorolead-germanate glass codoped with Ho3+, Tm3+, and Yb3+. The 475, 540, and 650nm signals were, respectively, assigned to thulium (G41-H63) and holmium (S25;F45)→I85 and F55→I85, excited via energy tranfer from ytterbium. The dopant concentrations were adjusted, yielding the emission of a wide color gamut in the visible spectrum and the production of white light using excitation at 975nm. The spectral positions and purity (blue, 97%; green, 100%; red, 95%) of the three colors produced CIE-X=0.3438 and CIE-Y=0.3639 coordinates.

Sensitized thulium blue upconversion emission in Nd3+/Tm3+/Yb3+ triply doped lead and cadmium germanate glass excited around 800 nm

Bright blue upconversion emission by thulium ions in PbGeO3–PbF2–CdF2 glass triply doped with Nd3+–Tm3+–Yb3+ under diode laser excitation around 800 nm is reported. The results revealed that the Nd3+/Tm3+/Yb3+-codoped sample generated ten times more 475 nm blue upconversion fluorescence than the Yb3+-sensitized Tm3+-doped one, under the same excitation power. The upconversion process also showed a strong dependence upon the Yb3+ concentration. The results also indicated that the neodymium ions played a major role in the upconversion process by transfering the 800 nm excitation to thulium ions. The population of the Tm3+ ions 1G4 emitting level was accomplished through a multiion interaction involving ground-state absorption of pump photons around 800 nm by the Nd3+(4I9/2→2H9/2, 4F5/2) and Tm3+(3H6→3F4) ions followed by energy-transfer processes involving the Nd3+–Yb3+(4F3/2, 2F7/2→4I11/2, 2F5/2) and Yb3+–Tm3+(2F5/2, 3F4→2F7/2, 1G4) pairs.

Structural and spectroscopic study of oxyfluoride glasses and glass-ceramics using europium ion as a structural probe

Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco (UFRPE), Dept Fis, Lab Foton, BR-52171900 Recife, PE, Brazil

Generation of wide color gamut visible light in rare-earth triply doped tantalum oxide crystalline ceramic powders

Multicolor visible light emitting near-infrared (NIR)-excited Tm/Ho/Yb-codoped tantalum oxide nanopowders were produced using the sol-gel method. The generation of wide color gamut fluorescence in glass-ceramic with orthorhombic Ta2O5 nanocrystals dispersed into amorphous silica-based matrix is observed. The light emission spectroscopic properties of the rare-earth doped SiO2:Ta2O5 nanocomposites as a function of the tantalum content and temperature of annealing is examined. Simultaneously emitted multicolor fluorescence consisting of blue (480 nm), green (540 nm), and red (650 nm) upconversion signals in the SiO2:Ta2O5 system doped with holmium and thulium and sensitized with ytterbium, is demonstrated. It is also demonstrated that the proper choice of the rare-earth content and the NIR excitation power yielded the generation and control of the three primary colors and allows the emission of a balanced white overall luminescence from the glass-ceramic nanopowder samples.