Enhanced and tunable white light emission from Ag nanoclusters and Eu³⁺-co-doped CaBAl glasses

Noble metal embedded glasses have been studied as promising candidates for a variety of technological applications, mainly due to their ability to enhance rare earth luminescence properties. In this work, Ag:Eu-co-doped calcium boroaluminate glasses were prepared and submitted to further heat treatment to form different Ag species. The optical and luminescence properties were investigated in terms of heat treatment times. Absorption spectra showed a successful Eu and Ag ion incorporation in the host, as well as Ag nanoparticle precipitation induced by heat treatment. Upon UV-light excitation, the co-doped glasses exhibited an intense wide emission band centered at about 500 nm, attributed to molecule-like silver species, which combined with the Eu³⁺ characteristic emission reaches a white light resultant emission. A new excitation band for Eu³⁺ at 335 nm and a silver luminescence lifetime decrease suggest an energy transfer process from molecule-like Ag to Eu³⁺ as being responsible for the enhanced PL properties in these glasses. An appropriate combination of a violet LED with the sample emission provides a route to achieve the ideal white light CIE color parameters. The relevant quality color results qualify these glasses as phosphors with high potential for white light emitting devices.