Luminescence, Energy Transfer, and Upconversion Mechanisms of Y2O3Nanomaterials Doped with Eu3+,Tb3+, Tm3+,Er3+, and Yb3+Ions

Abstract

Luminescence, energy transfer, and upconversion mechanisms of nanophosphors (Y2O3 : Eu3+,Tb3+,Y2O3 : Tm3+,Y2O3 : Er3+,Yb3+) both in particle and colloidal forms were studied. The structure, phase, and morphology of the nanopowders and nanocolloidal media were determined by high-resolution TEM and X-ray diffraction. It was shown that the obtained nanoparticles have a round-spherical shape with average size in the range of 4 to 20 nm. Energy transfer was observed forY2O3 : Eu3+,Tb3+colloidal and powders, upconversion transitions were observed for bothY2O3 : Er3+andY2O3 : Er3+,Yb3+nanophosphors. The dependence of photoluminescence (PL) spectra and decay times on doping concentration has been investigated. The infrared to visible conversion of emission inY2O3 : Er3+,Yb3+system was analyzed and discussed aiming to be applied in the photonic technology.