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Tunable multicolor and bright white upconversion luminescence in Er3+/Tm3+/Yb3+ tri-doped SrLu2O4 phosphors

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Abstract

A series of Er3+, Tm3+, Yb3+ co-doped or tri-doped SrLu2O4 phosphors were synthesized by a high-temperature solid-state reaction method. The crystal structure was characterized by X-ray diffraction technique and further validated by Rietveld refinement. The chemical composition and elemental distribution of tri-doped sample were determined by the energy-dispersive spectrometry. It is worthwhile to note that the upconversion (UC) luminescence of as-prepared samples could be precisely controlled by adjusting the Yb3+ doping concentration and the excitation pump power. A bright UC white light in Er3+/Tm3+/Yb3+ tri-doped SrLu2O4 samples was observed by controlling the intensities of red, green and blue emissions. Under various pump powers in the range of 290–810 mW, the color coordinates could be effectively tuned in a quite broad white region. Particularly, the color coordinate of optimal sample under 630 mW at 980-nm excitation is (0.3336, 0.3244), which is very close to the standard white-light illumination (0.333, 0.333) and the corresponding correlated color temperature is 5442 K. Based on the UC emission spectra and luminescence decay curves, the energy transfer (ET) mechanisms involved in the different UC processes were proposed in detail. The results imply that ET processes of Yb3+ → Er3+, Yb3+ → Tm3+ and Tm3+ → Er3+ worked simultaneously in tri-doped system and produced white UC emissions by means of two- or three-photon processes. The Er3+/Tm3+/Yb3+ tri-doped SrLu2O4 phosphor can be a potential candidate for white UC material in displays, backlights and white-light sources.

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Acknowledgements

This project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51304086, 11464017), Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar of Jiangxi Province (20171BCB23064) and the Program of Qingjiang Excellent Young Talents of Jiangxi University of Science and Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Metallurgy and Chemistry Engineering, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou, 341000, People’s Republic of China

    Songbin Liu, Shuifu Liu, Hong Ming, Fu Du, Jiaqing Peng & Xinyu Ye

  2. National Engineering Research Center for Ionic Rare Earth, Ganzhou, 341000, People’s Republic of China

    Xinyu Ye

  3. School of Material Science and Engineering, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou, 341000, People’s Republic of China

    Weixiong You

  4. Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Luminescence Materials and Devices of Jiangxi Province, Ganzhou, 341000, People’s Republic of China

    Songbin Liu, Shuifu Liu, Hong Ming, Fu Du, Jiaqing Peng, Weixiong You & Xinyu Ye

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  1. Songbin Liu
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Correspondence to Xinyu Ye.

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Liu, S., Liu, S., Ming, H. et al. Tunable multicolor and bright white upconversion luminescence in Er3+/Tm3+/Yb3+ tri-doped SrLu2O4 phosphors. J Mater Sci 53, 14469–14484 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-2632-6

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