Intense 1064 nm emission by the efficient energy transfer from Ce3+ to Nd3+ in Ce/Nd co-doped YAG transparent ceramics

Ce/Nd co-doped YAG transparent ceramics were fabricated by solid-state reaction and vacuum sintering method for the first time. By comparison of the samples for various Ce3+ concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 1 at%, it was shown that the 0.3 at%Ce:1.0 at%Nd:YAG ceramic exhibited the strongest near-infrared (NIR) luminescence as well as a good transparency. The intense 1064 nm emission due to the Nd3+4F3/2 → 4I11/2 was observed upon the excitation of 5d level of Ce3+. The energy transfer from Ce3+ to Nd3+consists of non-radiative and radiative parts. The efficient energy transfer from Ce3+ to Nd3+ could make the NIR luminescence in Ce/Nd co-doped YAG easily excited by GaN LED. Therefore, the Ce/Nd co-doped transparent ceramics have the potential to be a new efficient NIR luminophor or a low threshold, high efficiency laser grain medium.