Luminescence of Er3+ ions in nanocrystalline glass-ceramics

Abstract

This work analyzes the influence of the nanocrystals on the luminescence properties of Er3+ions in transparent oxyfluoride tellurite glass-ceramics obtained by heat treatment of the precursor Er-doped glass. The comparison between the fluorescence properties of Er-doped glass and glass-ceramic suggests that a fraction of Er3+ ions are forming nanocrystals while the rest remain in a glass environment. The presence of ErF3 nanocrystals has a strong effect in the upconverted red emission from4F9/2 level. The time evolution of the upconverted red emission shows that energy transfer upconversion processes are responsible for the increase of this emission in the glass-ceramic sample.