Luminescence and energy transfer in Dy3+/Tb3+ co-doped CaO–Al2O3–B2O3–RE2O3 glass

The new calcium aluminoborate glasses with the composition of CaO–Al2O3–B2O3–RE2O3 (RE = Dy and Tb) were synthesized and the luminescence of Dy3+ and Tb3+ was investigated. The results show that the emission intensity of Tb3+ ion was enhanced when introducing Dy3+ ion into CaO–Al2O3–B2O3–Tb2O3 glass due to the energy transfer processes between Dy3+ and Tb3+. The energy transfer efficiencies, transfer probabilities as well as donor–acceptor critical distances were also calculated. The energy transfer mechanism between Dy3+ and Tb3+ ions is electric dipole–dipole interaction, which can be concluded by both fluorescence decay and emission intensity ratio varieties.

► A new Dy3+/Tb3+ co-doped calcium aluminoborate glass was fabricated. ► The luminescence properties of this glass were investigated. ► The energy transfer process of Dy3+ → Tb3+ was confirmed. ► The electric dipole–dipole interactions are responsible for the energy transfer.