Effect of Li+ ions doping on microstructure and upconversion luminescence of CeO2:Er3+ translucent ceramics

• Li, Er co-doped CeO2 translucent ceramics were fabricated successfully.
• The transmittance of CeO2:Er, Li ceramics in the visible region was improved.
• The UC luminescence intensity in CeO2:Er, Li ceramics was greatly enhanced.
• The effect of Li+ on microstructure and UC luminescence of CeO2:Er was discussed.

CeO2:1%Er, CeO2:1%Er, 5%Li and CeO2:1%Er, 10%Li translucent ceramics were fabricated for the first time. Under the 980 nm diode laser excitation, the ceramics gave intense green (520–570 nm) and red (640–680 nm) upconversion luminescence, which were ascribed to the radiative transitions of 2H11/2, 4S3/2 → 4I15/2 and 4F9/2 → 4I15/2 of Er3+ ions, respectively. It was worthy to point out that the above upconversion luminescence intensity of CeO2:Er, Li ceramics was greatly enhanced, and the preliminary observation suggests that the transmittance of CeO2:Er, Li ceramics in the visible spectral region was improved when Li+ ions were introduced as ceramics fluxing agent. The effect of Li+ ions doping on microstructure and upconversion emission of CeO2:Er translucent ceramics was investigated and the possible reasons for these results were presented, respectively.