Optical spectra of Dy3+-doped GdVO4 and Ca3Sc2Ge3O12 crystals and evaluation of the Ω2/Ω6 ratio as a quality factor for the classification of Dy3+-activated crystalline hosts

•The optical spectra of GdVO4:Dy3+ and Ca3Sc2Ge3O12:Dy3+crystals have been measured.•The absorption spectra have been analysed in the frame of the Judd-Ofelt Theory.•The intensity parameters have been correlated with the structure of the Dy3+luminescence.

The room temperature absorption spectra of Dy3+-doped GdVO4 and Ca3Sc2Ge3O12 crystals have been measured and analysed in the framework of the Judd-Ofelt Theory. The calculated intensity parameters have then been correlated with the intensities of the emission bands in the yellow and blue region. The analysis has then been extended to a number of host lattices using literature data, and a general empirical model has been proposed, correlating the Ω2/Ω6 and the yellow to blue (Y/B) ratio in order to define a criterion for predicting the visible luminescence properties of the Dy-activated crystalline materials.