Bright white upconversion luminescence from Er3+/Tm3+/Yb3+-doped titanate-based glasses prepared by aerodynamic levitation method

Abstract Aerodynamic levitation method was employed to prepare Er3+/Tm3+/Yb3+-doped titanate-based glasses. DTA results show that the glass performs high thermal stability with the glass transition temperature of 799 °C. The interaction among rare earth ions has been discussed by adjusting the relative concentration. Er3+ ions can quench the upconversion luminescence of Tm3+ ions. Tm3+ ions play a strong role in quenching the emissions of Er3+ and Tm3+ when the content of Tm3+ ions is greater than or equal 0.05. From the view of the ratio of red emission to green emission, Tm3+ ions can improve the red emission of Er3+ ions to some extent in contrast with the green emissions of Er3+ ions. 980 nm incident laser can be efficiently absorbed by Yb3+ ions. The relative intensity of red, green, and blue upconversion luminescence has been tuned to obtain white light. The composition with white upconversion luminescence of the color coordinate (0.291, 0.3292) has been found. Moreover, white upconversion luminescence mechanism is a two-photon process of ET, ESA, and cooperative sensitization. Rare earth ions doped titanate-based glasses with bright upconversion luminescence perform potential applications in color display, back light, et al.