Optical transition properties, energy transfer mechanism and luminescent thermal stability of Sm3+-doped silicate glasses

Sm3+ doped silicate glasses were synthesized via a conventional melt-quenching and annealing technique. Optical transition properties of Sm3+ in the studied silicate glass were evaluated in the framework of Judd-Ofelt theory. The radiative transition rates, fluorescence branching ratios and intrinsic lifetime for interested transitions or level were obtained. Concentration quenching, energy transfer and thermal stability were studied by fluorescence spectra and decay curves. It was found that the main reason for concentration quenching was nonradiative energy transfer through cross-relaxation mechanism due to dipole-dipole interaction. The temperature-dependent fluorescence emission was studied in detail, and it was found that crossover mechanism based on the Arrhenius model can well explain the fluorescence temperature quenching behavior of 4G5/2 level.