Hydrothermal synthesis and upconversion properties of CaF2:Er3+/Yb3+ nanocrystals

A series of rare-earth ions (Er3+ and Yb3+) Co-doped CaF2 upconversion luminescent nanomaterials have been successfully prepared via a facile hydrothermal method using pluronic p123 (p123), pluronic F127 (F127) and sodium citrate as surfactants at 180 degrees C with different reaction time. The crystallographic phase, size and morphology can be controlled by simply tuning the reaction parameters such as the types of surfactants and the reaction time. It is found that reaction time and surfactant play a key role in forming the nanocrystals with different morphologies. X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy FE-SEM, and photoluminescence spectra were used to characterize the structure, morphology and upconversion luminescence properties of CaF2:Er3+/Yb3+ upconversion nanomaterials, respectively. The experimental results indicate that three monodispersive and highly uniform CaF2:Er3+/Yb3+ nanocrystals with mean size of 200 nm, 3 um, and 700 nm have cubic and sphere shapes, respectively. While the possible mechanisms of upconversion luminescence are analyzed by the diagram of proposed energy transfer mechanisms, the schematic energy level diagrams showing typical upconversion processes for Er3+ also reveals that the as-synthesized CaF2:Er3+/Yb3 nanomaterials may be in the cubic structure with space group Fm-3m, in which Ln3+ cations occupy crystal lattice positions with lower point symmetry, leading to a high upconversion efficiency under the excitation of a 980 nm diode laser.