Preparation And Luminescence Properties Of Y₂O₃:Er³⁺,Yb³⁺ Transparent Ceramics

Transparent ceramics are burgeoning optical materials, it owns not only good optical performance, but also many other excellent performance, such as high temperature and high pressure resistance, corrosion resistance, high intensity and high rigidity. Compared to optical glass, transparent ceramics has a better high temperature resistance performance. The controllability on shape and size allows it more widespread application domain than crystals.Cubic Y₂O₃ owns many advantages such as structure stability, high optical transmission range, low photon energy and high doping concentration of rare earth ions, which makes it an ideal raw material to fabricate transparent ceramics. In addition, the Er³⁺ and Yb³⁺codoped Y₂O₃ transparent ceramics owns excellent up-conversion and near infrared luminescence properties. Whether used as transparent ceramic materials, or the up-conversion and near infrared luminescence properties it owns, the Y₂O₃:Er³⁺:Yb³⁺transparent ceramics has wide application prospect and value.In this paper, Y₂O₃:Er³⁺:Yb³⁺ powders were prepared by co-precipitation method using NH3·H2O as precipitant, then the powders were used as raw materials to fabricate transparent ceramics. The properties of powders and ceramics were investigated by TG-DTA?XRD?SEM?TEM and spectrophotometer. TG-DTA analysis showed that the weightlessness of Y₂O₃:Er³⁺,Yb³⁺ precursors occurred mainly before 800?, the Y₂O₃ phase formed when the temperature was higher than 800?. With the increased of calcination temperature, the dispersion condition of powders got better, the grain size was about 30 nm, 50 nm, 100 nm and150nm when the calcination temperature was 900 ?, 1000 ?, 1100 ? and 1200 ?,respectively. The powders showed obvious up-conversion and near infrared emission under the excitation of 980 nm laser. The up-conversion emission was mainly green and red emission, centered at 550nm/560 nm and 660 nm, respectively. The near infrared emission was centered at 1535 nm. The calcination temperature, concentration and ratio of rare earth ions effected seriously on the luminescence properties of Y₂O₃:Er³⁺,Yb³⁺ powders. The quenching concentration of Er³⁺ was 2mol%. When the concentration of Er³⁺ was constant at2mol%, the green and near infrared emission reached the maximum emission intensity when the concentration of Yb³⁺ was 3mol%, the red emission reached maximum intensity when the concentration of Yb³⁺ was 12mol%. The sintering temperature and time effected obviously on the optical transmittance of ceramics. The highest transmittance of the ceramics sintered at 1800??1700? and 1600? for 15 h was 30.3%?20.1% and 12.9%,respectively. The highest transmittance of the ceramics was 15%?22.4%?26.6% and 30.3% when sintered at1800? for 5h?8h?12h and 15 h, respectively. The introduction of 5mol% La2O3 in Y₂O₃ transparent ceramics reduced the sintering temperature and improved the optical properties of the ceramics obviously. The highest transmittance of?Y1-xLax?2O3 and Y₂O₃ transparent ceramics sintered at 1600? for15 h was 18.5% and 12.9%, respectively.