Preparation of PbF2:Ho3+, Er3+, Yb3+ phosphors and its multi-wavelength sensitive upconversion luminescence mechanism

Abstract In this paper, PbF2: Ho3+, Er3+, Yb3+ phosphors are prepared by a high-temperature solid-state method. The crystal structure acquired by X ray powder diffractometer shows that the resultant phosphor is a pure cubic PbF2 crystal. The upconversion (UC) emission spectra of samples are performed by a fluorescence spectrophotometer coupled with lasers of 980 nm, 1064 nm and 1550 nm, presenting the green emission in the range of 541∼548 nm and red emission in the range of 653–667 nm, corresponding to the excitation path: Ho3+: 4F9/2→4I15/2, Er3+: 4S3/2→4I15/2, Er3+: 4F9/2→4I15/2 and Ho3+: 5F5→5I8. Finally, the UC luminescence mechanism is analyzed under excitation of different wavelengths. The result shows that the phosphors have a promising prospect for application in anti-counterfeiting technologies and solar cell field.