A potential temperature sensing material: Studies of structure and temperature-sensitive photoluminescent properties of Nb5+, Sm3+ doped YTaO4

Abstract Non-contact luminescence temperature measurement technology shows a broad application prospect in medical, high-temperature environment and other fields, which has attracted people's attention for its high-precision, real-time response and so on. In this work, Nb5+, Sm3+ single-doped and co-doped YTaO4 phosphor was designed. YTaO4 with M-type and M′-type structures can be obtained by adjusting the synthesis conditions. The structure and composition of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The photoluminescent properties of NbO43− group and Sm3+ ions in M-type and M′-type YTaO4 matrix were studied. Due to the different thermal responses of Nb5+ and Sm3+ ions, the fluorescence intensity ratio between them can be used as temperature detecting signal. In the range of 77–500 K, the maximum relative sensitivity of the YTaO4: Nb5+, Sm3+ reaches 1.15 %K−1 at 450 K, indicating that the Nb5+ and Sm3+ co-doped M-type YTaO4 phosphors can be used as optical temperature sensor. This research may provide guidance for the design of other rare earth doped luminescent materials for temperature detection.