A novel Tm^3+/Yb^3+ triply-doped glass ceramics containing BaF2 nano-crystals are successfully prepared. Fluoride nanocrystals BaF2 are successfully precipitated in glass matrix, which is affirmed by the X-ray diffraction results. The intense blue (476 nm), green (543 nm), and red (656 nm) emissions of the glass ceramics are simultaneously observed at room temperature under 980-am excitation, and the emission luminescence intensity increases significantly compared with the precursor glass, which is attributed to the low phonon energy of fluoride nanocrystals when rare-earth ions are incorporated into the precipitated BaF2 nanocrystals. Under 980-nm excitation at 400 mW, the international commission on illumination (CIE) chromaticity coordinate (X = 0.278, Y = 0.358) of the tridoped oxyfluoride glass ceramics' upconversion emissions is close to the standard white-light illumination (X = 0.333, Y= 0.333). The results indicate that Tm^3+/Yb^3+ triply doped glass ceramics can act as suitable materials for potential three-dimensional displays applications.
Yb^3+-doped new gallium-fluorophosphate glasses are prepared, and the influence of Ga2O3 on the physical properties, spectroscopic and lasing properties of yb^3+-doped fluorophosphate glasses was studied. The results show that the spectroscopic and lasing properties as well as crystallization stability of yb^3+-doped gallium-fluorophosphate glasses increase with the increasing amount of Ga2O3, fluorescence lifetime, emission cross-section and gain coefficient of yb^3+-doped gallium-fluorophosphate glasses reach the maximum values at Ga2O3%=8 mol%. The results indicate that yb^3+-doped gallium-fluorophosphate glasses can be as good candidate for ultra-short pulse lasers.
The upconversion luminescence of Er^3+/Yb^3+ ions is researched in a novel transparent oxyfluoride borosil- icate glass and glass ceramics under 980-nm excitation. Fluoride nanocrystals Ba2YF7 are successfully precipitated in glass matrix, which is affirmed by the X-ray diffraction results. Compared with the parent glasses, significant enhancement of upconversion luminescence is observed in the Er^3+/Yb^3+ codoped transparent glass-ceramics, which may be due to the variation of coordination environment around Er^3+ and Yb^3+ ions after crystallization. The possible upconversion mechanism is also discussed.