Preliminary evaluation of the up-conversion emission of Y2O3:Er-Yb thin films prepared by a solid state photochemical deposition method

Abstract Y 2 O 3 thin films doped with different concentrations of erbium ions and co-doped with 10 mol% of ytterbium were synthesized by a solid state photochemical deposition method followed by a subsequent calcination process. The photo-reactivity of the thin films was monitored by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV–vis spectroscopy and photo-luminescence (PL) were employed to characterize the samples. The results reveal that Y 2 O 3 :Er films under 980 nm irradiation exhibit characteristic up-conversion emissions that are focused in the green region of the spectrum; these emissions are assigned to the ( 2 H 11/2 , 4 S 3/2 )→ 4 I 15/2 transitions of the Er 3+ ions. These emissions greatly increase in intensity with the addition of Yb 3+ ions in the preparation of the co-doped films. This phenomenon is explained based on the efficient Yb 3+ → Er 3+ energy transfer processes.