Y2O3:Yb,Tm and Y2O3:Yb,Ho powders for low-temperature thermometry based on up-conversion fluorescence

• Published in: Ceramics international Vol. 39; no. 2; pp. 1129 - 1134
• Main Authors: Lojpur, V., Nikolic, M., Mancic, L., Milosevic, O., Dramicanin, M.D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2013
• Subjects: Ceramics; D. Y2O3; Emission; Fluorescence; Infrared; Lasers; Spray pyrolysis; Temperature dependence; Thermometry; Up-conversion; Upconversion; D. Y2O3; Spray pyrolysis; Up-conversion; Thermometry
• ISSN: 0272-8842; 1873-3956
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ceramint.2012.07.036

Recently, trivalent rare earth doped materials have received significant attention due to the strong temperature dependence of the fluorescence emission of these materials, which can be useful in temperature sensing. Here, we investigated Y2O3 ceramic powders doped with Yb3+ and co-doped with either Tm3+ or Ho3+. The powders were obtained via spray pyrolysis at 900°C and additionally thermally treated at 1100°C for 24h. Structural characterization using X-ray powder diffraction confirmed the cubic bixbyte structure. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the particles exhibit a uniform spherical morphology. The up-conversion emissions were measured using laser excitation at 978nm, resulting in the following transitions: blue emission in the range of 450–500nm, weak red emission in the range of 650–680nm and near infrared emission in the range of 765–840nm for Tm3+, as well as green emission centered at 550nm and weak near infrared emission at 755nm for the Ho3+ ions. In addition, the temperature dependence of the fluorescence intensity ratios of different Stark components was analyzed in the range of 10–300K. Significant temperature sensitivity was detected for several components, with the largest value of 0.097K−1 related to the intensity ratio of I536 and I772 emissions observed for the Y2O3:Yb,Ho powder.