Photoluminescence of Eu3+-doped glasses with Cu2+ impurities

José A. Jiménez

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Abstract Glasses activated with Eu3+ ions are attractive as luminescent materials for various photonic applications. Co-doping with copper has been proposed for enhancing material optical properties, but the quenching effect of Cu2+ impurities on Eu3+ emission in glass remains largely unexplored. In this work, Eu2O3/CuO-containing barium-phosphate glasses have been prepared by the melt-quench method, and the Eu3+ photoluminescence (PL) quenching resulting from Eu3+ → Cu2+ energy transfer was evaluated. Optical absorption spectroscopy showed that with the increase in CuO concentration the Cu2+ absorption band resonant with Eu3+ emission (e.g. 5D07F2 transition around 615 nm) developed steadily. As a result, Eu3+ PL was progressively quenched. Evaluation of the quenching constants as a function of temperature in the 298-673 K range showed differences basically within experimental error, consistent with a resonant transfer and lack of phonon-assisted processes. Moreover, analysis of the Eu3+ emission decay dynamics revealed a strong correlation between the decay rates and Cu2+ impurity levels. Results imply that for practical applications the levels of Cu2+ in Eu3+/Cu+-activated glasses should be reduced if not removed as these will significantly limit device efficiency.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number13461
Pages (from-to)482-486
Number of pages5
JournalSpectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy
Volume145
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 5 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Energy transfer
  • Luminescence
  • Optical properties
  • Rare earths

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
  • Instrumentation
  • Spectroscopy

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