Full color and tunable white emitting in ternary Ce/Tb/Sm Co-doped CaO–B2O3–SiO2 glasses

A series of luminescent glasses composed of CaO–B2O3–SiO2 co-doped with cerium oxide (CeO2), terbium oxide (Tb4O7) and samarium oxide (Sm2O3) were prepared by high temperature melting method, aiming to realize the white emitting and tunable luminescent color in the glass matrix. The full colors including blue, green and reddish orange emitting were observed simultaneously in the photoluminescent spectra of ternary Ce/Tb/Sm co-doped CaO–B2O3–SiO2 glasses excited by ultraviolet light. It is shown that the combination of these three emitting allows the realization of white light emitting in ternary co-doped CaO–B2O3–SiO2 glasses. Furthermore, the tunable luminescent color and chromaticity parameters could be realized by varying the content of dopant in the glass matrix, which makes these co-doped glasses good candidates for white light emitting diodes (LEDs).

► A series of white emitting glasses were prepared by high temperature melting method.
► The full colors including blue, green and reddish orange emitting were observed in the spectra of the co-doped glasses.
► The tunable luminescent color gradually from green to white can be realized with the decreasing of Tb4O7.