Super broadband near-infrared luminescence in Ni2Â +-Er3Â + co-doped transparent glass ceramics

Ni2 +-Er3 + co-doped glass ceramics containing ZnGa2O4 nanocrystals were fabricated by in situ controlled crystallization method. The adverse energy transfer between Ni2 + and Er3 + could be suppressed in the ZnGa2O4 glass ceramics. And the super-broadband infrared luminescence with full width at half maximum (FWHM) of about 400 nm covering 1.1-1.7 μm wavelength region was observed in Ni2 +-Er3 + co-doped glass ceramics. The two lifetimes of 1NE-GC950 revealed that two luminescence mechanism involved in the luminescence process, Ni2 +: 3T2g (3F) → 3A2g (3F) and Er3 +: 4I13/2 → 4I15/2 respectively. Compared to that in the Ni2 +/Er3 + co-doped glass ceramic containing γ-Ga2O3 and LaF3 nanocrystals, the nanocrystals in the present paper is just only one, ZnGa2O4 nanocrystals, and it could also present super-broadband luminescence.