Optical spectroscopic studies on GdF3:Tb3+,Yb3+ nanocrystals

Abstract Rare earth ions (Ln 3+ ) doped optical materials manifest sharp and tunable emission, high photostability, long luminescent lifetime and low cytotoxicity, and find diverse applications in optics, optoelectronic devices and bio-labelling. Herein, we employed a conventional hydrothermal approach to control the size and tune the phase as well as the morphology of GdF 3 :Tb 3+ ,Yb 3+ nanocrystals, wherein the effects of the synthetic conditions, such as pH, time, the ratio of the Gd to F and the surfactant, have been detailed investigated, producing sphere, platelet, rice, flower-shaped GdF 3 nanoparticles. Diffuse reflectance spectra, photoluminescence emission and excitation spectra, and photoluminescence lifetime measurements were employed to characterize the optical spectroscopic properties of GdF 3 :Tb 3+ ,Yb 3+ nanocrystals. No efficient energy transfer from Tb 3+ to Yb 3+ is observed in GdF 3 :Tb 3+ ,Yb 3+ nanocrystals and the Yb 3+ shows a concentration quenching effect at high doping levels.