Luminescence properties of Nd3+/Yb3+ co-doped yttrium silicate nanophosphors excited by at laser diode of 975 nm

Trivalent rare earth ions doped materials can convert near infrared photons to different visible emissions and Yb3+ rare earth ions have only two levels of 2F7/2 and 2F5/2 in the near infrared region. Yb3+ ions are generally used as sensitizer to obtain high emissions from other rare earths by using ∼975 nm laser and the near infrared photon energy can be transferred from Yb3+ to other ions. The energy level 4F3/2 of Nd3+ is little higher than the 2F5/2 level of Yb3+, so Nd3+ emission may be sensitized by energy transfer from Yb3+ ion. In this work, we studied the luminescence properties of Nd3+/Yb3+ co-doped yttrium silicate (Y2O3:SiO2) nanopowder with a 975 nm diode laser excitation. The emission properties and spectral changes were analyzed at atmospheric pressure and vacuum. The decay and rise patterns were carried out under vacuum (0.01 mbar) and atmospheric pressures.