Novel Sb3+/Eu3+ Co-doped phosphate luminescent glasses with adjustable emission

• The optical properties of the Sb3+/Eu3+ co-doped glasses are presented.
• The emission is well controlled by simply varying the Sb3+/Eu3+ doping ratio.
• White light emission is achieved under the excitation of 274 nm.
• The sensitization from Sb3+ to Eu3+ is confirmed.
• The possible energy transfer process involved is discussed.

In the present work, the optical properties of Sb3+-doped and Sb3+/Eu3+ co-doped phosphate glasses were investigated. The blue emission intensity of Sb3+ decreased significantly while the red emission intensity of Eu3+ increased with the increasing concentration of Eu3+ ions. It was confirmed that an energy transfer from Sb3+ to Eu3+ occurred and the possible luminescent mechanism was proposed. The results suggest that the sensitization of Sb3+ not only enhance the emission intensity of Eu3+ excited at 274 nm, but also results in the tunable emission color of the glasses. Particularly, white light photoluminescence combining blue and red emission was observed under ultraviolet light excitation.