Intense up-conversion luminescence of Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped YNbO4 through hydrothermal route

• Up-converting phosphor: YNbO4:Er3+/Yb3+ was prepared through hydrothermal route.
• Submicron-sized Y0.85Er0.05Yb0.10NbO4 showed intense up-conversion emission.
• Down-conversion (green spectral region) was also observed via ex. at 261 and 377 nm.
• The luminescence intensity fairly depended on the crystallinity of YNbO4:Er3+/Yb3+.

Yttrium niobate (YNbO4) up-converting phosphor co-doped with Er3+ and Yb3+ was prepared based on the homogeneous precursor nano-sized particles through hydrothermal route and post heat treatment. A single phase of monoclinic fergusonite-type YNbO4 solid solution was directly formed by the substitutional incorporation of 5 mol% Er3+ and 10 mol% Yb3+ under weakly basic hydrothermal conditions at 180–240 °C for 5 h. The niobate, YNbO4:Er3+/Yb3+ that was hydrothermally formed and heat treated in air showed room temperature emission (down-conversion) in the green spectral region, 519 and 542 nm under excitation both at wavelengths of 261 and 377 nm in addition to the up-converted luminescence under excitation at 980 nm. The up-converted luminescence intensity of the yttrium niobate depended on its crystallinity, and it was improved as the heat-treatment temperature in air rose. Upon excitation at 980 nm, the submicron-sized niobate solid solution, Y0.85Er0.05Yb0.10NbO4 after heating at 1300 °C showed intense energy transfer up-conversion emission.

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