Preparation and photoluminescence of monolithic silica glass doped with Tb3+ ions using SiO2–PVA nanocomposite

Abstract The monolithic silica glass doped with Tb 3+ ions was fabricated using the SiO 2 –PVA nanocomposite as the glass precursor. In order to dope Tb 3+ ions in the monolithic silica glass, the mesoporous SiO 2 –PVA nanocomposite was immersed in the Tb 3+ ions contained solution and subsequently sintered at 1100 °C in air. Consequently the monolithic transparent silica glass was obtained, exhibiting green fluorescence attributed to 5 D 4 → 7 F 5 main transitions under UV excitation. The Tb concentration in the sintered glass could be controlled by immersion time of the nanocomposite in the solution.