Down conversion of Er3+-Yb3+ couple in Y2BaZnO5

• Novel Er3+-Yb3+ co-doped oxide quantum cutting phosphors is prepared.
• An absorbed high-energy photon can be cut into 1000 nm and 1550 nm photons.
• Er(4S3/2) + Yb(2F7/2) → Er(4I13/2) + Yb(2F5/2) energy transfer is proved to perform the quantum cutting.

Er3+-Yb3+ co-doped Y2BaZnO5 phosphors were synthesized via high temperature solid-state reaction method. The quantum cutting properties for Er3+-Yb3+ co-doped Y2BaZnO5 phosphors have been detailedly exploited under different wavelength excitation. Unlike in fluoride host, only the Er(4S3/2) + Yb(2F7/2) → Er(4I13/2) + Yb(2F5/2) energy transfer process in Y2BaZnO5 effectively performs the down-conversion, which can split an absorbed high-energy photon into two photons of 1000 nm and 1550 nm radiations. The quantum cutting properties of Er3+-Yb3+ couple in Y2BaZnO5 provides meaningful reference in search of new efficient Er3+-Yb3+ co-doped quantum cutting phosphors.