Lanthanide-doped KGd3F10 nanocrystals embedded glass ceramics: Self-crystallization, optical properties and temperature sensing

Abstract Lanthanide-doped transparent bulk glass ceramics containing cubic KGd 3 F 10 nanocrystals were successfully fabricated via self-crystallization and subsequent heat-treatment. Elemental mapping and Eu 3+ optical spectroscopy evidenced the incorporation of lanthanide dopants into low-phonon-energy KGd 3 F 10 crystalline lattice. As a consequence, bright red(green) photoluminescence was achieved for the Ce/Eu(Tb) co-doped glass ceramics via energy transfer of Ce 3+ →Gd 3+ →Eu 3+ (Tb 3+ ), and intense tunable upconversion emissions were realized for the Yb/Ln (Ln = Er, Ho, Tm) co-doped glass ceramics via a multi-photon absorption process. Furthermore, temperature-dependent optical performance of Yb/Er and Yb/Tm co-doped glass ceramics was systematically studied to explore their possible application as optical thermometric media. Impressively, fluorescence intensity ratios of Er 3+ 2 H 11/2 / 4 S 3/2 thermally coupled states as well as Tm 3+ 3 F 2,3 / 1 G 4 non-thermally coupled ones were evidenced to be applicable as temperature probes.