Spectroscopic Investigation of Up-Conversion Properties in Green Emitting BaMgF4:Yb3+,Tb3+ Phosphor

Bhushan P Kore; Ashwini Kumar; Anurag Pandey; Robin E Kroon; Jacobus J Terblans; Sanjay J Dhoble; Hendrik C Swart

doi:10.1021/acs.inorgchem.7b00044

Spectroscopic Investigation of Up-Conversion Properties in Green Emitting BaMgF₄:Yb³⁺,Tb³⁺ Phosphor

Inorg Chem. 2017 May 1;56(9):4996-5005. doi: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.7b00044. Epub 2017 Apr 13.

Authors

Bhushan P Kore¹, Ashwini Kumar¹, Anurag Pandey¹, Robin E Kroon¹, Jacobus J Terblans¹, Sanjay J Dhoble², Hendrik C Swart¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, University of the Free State , P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa.
² Department of Physics, RTM Nagpur University , Nagpur 440033, India.

PMID: 28406623
DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.7b00044

Abstract

In this work we have comprehensively studied the up-conversion (UC) properties of BaMgF₄:Yb³⁺,Tb³⁺ phosphor for the first time. BaMgF₄:Yb³⁺,Tb³⁺ phosphors were prepared by a simple and low cost precipitation method. To determine the influence of dopant concentration on luminescence properties, the corresponding UC luminescence spectra of BaMgF₄:Yb³⁺,Tb³⁺ phosphors were studied under NIR excitation. Emission spectra under NIR excitation reveal the vital role of Tb³⁺ concentration in spectral tuning from the blue to green region. The UC decay curves were also studied to explore the possible energy transfer (ET) mechanisms between Yb³⁺ and Tb³⁺. The results reported here are expected to provide an approach for better understanding ET mechanisms in many Yb³⁺/Tb³⁺ codoped UC phosphors. This study will be helpful in applications where precisely defined optical transitions is an essential criterion.