Thermally boosted upconversion and downshifting luminescence in Sc2(MoO4)3:Yb/Er with two-dimensional negative thermal expansion

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 2090 - 11
• Main Authors: Liao, Jinsheng, Wang, Minghua, Lin, Fulin, Han, Zhuo, Fu, Biao, Tu, Datao, Chen, Xueyuan, Qiu, Bao, Wen, He-Rui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 19.04.2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 140/133; 639/301/1019; 639/624/399; Emitters; Erbium; High temperature; Humanities and Social Sciences; I.R. radiation; Low temperature; Luminescence; multidisciplinary; Phosphors; Photoluminescence; Photons; Raman spectroscopy; Rare earth elements; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Synchrotron radiation; Synchrotrons; Temperature; Temperature dependence; Thermal expansion; Upconversion; X-ray diffraction; Ytterbium
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29784-6

Rare earth (RE 3+ )-doped phosphors generally suffer from thermal quenching, in which their photoluminescence (PL) intensities decrease at high temperatures. Herein, we report a class of unique two-dimensional negative-thermal-expansion phosphor of Sc 2 (MoO 4 ) 3 :Yb/Er. By virtue of the reduced distances between sensitizers and emitters as well as confined energy migration with increasing the temperature, a 45-fold enhancement of green upconversion (UC) luminescence and a 450-fold enhancement of near-infrared downshifting (DS) luminescence of Er 3+ are achieved upon raising the temperature from 298 to 773 K. The thermally boosted UC and DS luminescence mechanism is systematically investigated through in situ temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy, synchrotron X-ray diffraction and PL dynamics. Moreover, the luminescence lifetime of 4 I 13/2 of Er 3+ in Sc 2 (MoO 4 ) 3 :Yb/Er displays a strong temperature dependence, enabling luminescence thermometry with the highest relative sensitivity of 12.3%/K at 298 K and low temperature uncertainty of 0.11 K at 623 K. These findings may gain a vital insight into the design of negative-thermal-expansion RE 3+ -doped phosphors for versatile applications. Rare-earth doped phosphors with negative thermal expansion (NTE) may display thermally-enhanced emission, but their performance is generally limited. Here the authors report thermally-boosted green upconversion luminescence and near-infrared downshifting luminescence in Sc 2 (MoO 4 ) 3 :Yb/Er phosphors with two-dimensional NTE, and their application in temperature sensing.