Color-tunable up-conversion luminescence of Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped (K,Na)NbO3 ceramics

• Yb3+/Er3+ co-doped (K,Na)NbO3 ceramics were synthesized via solid state reaction.
• The ratio of green and red emission intensity could be adjusted by changing the content of Yb2O3.
• This material has potential application as a multifunctional device by integrating up-conversion and piezoelectric property.

To investigate the effect of Yb3+ doping on the up-conversion emissions, the Yb3+/Er3+ co-doped (K,Na)NbO3 smart ferroelectric ceramics have been synthesized by the conventional solid-state reaction. The results here illustrated that the green and red up-conversion emission intensities of these ceramics excited under 980 nm increased with the increasing content of Yb2O3 and achieved the maximum value at x=0.5%. The ratio of green and red emission intensity could be adjusted by changing the content of Yb2O3, and the mechanism of up-conversion processes involved a two-photon absorption. In addition to the admirable intrinsic piezoelectric properties of KNN, this kind of material may have potential application as a multifunctional device by integrating its up-conversion and piezoelectric property.