Tunable red-green upconversion luminescence in novel transparent glass ceramics containing Er: NaYF4 nanocrystals

To develop NaYF(4) as bulk luminescence material, transparent glass ceramics containing Er(3+): NaYF(4) nanocrystals were fabricated for the first time, and the influences of heat-treatment temperature and Er(3+) doping level on their upconversion luminescence were investigated. With increasing heating temperature, the upconversion intensity enhanced accordingly, attributing to the incorporation of more Er(3+) into the grown NaYF(4). Notably, when the heating temperature reached 650 degrees C, the upconversion intensity augmented drastically due to the occurrence of phase transition from the cubic NaYF(4) to the hexagonal one. Interestingly, for the samples heat-treated at 620 degrees C, when the Er(3+) doping level was increased from 0.05 to 2.0 mol %, the upconversion emission was whole-range tunable from monochromatic green to approximately monochromatic red, which could be mainly attributed to the cross-relaxation between Er(3+) ions. The excellent optical properties and its convenient, low-cost synthesis of the present glass ceramic imply that it is an excellent substitution material for the unobtainable bulk NaYF(4) crystal, potentially applicable in many fields.