Fluorescence and energy transfer between Eu3 + and Sm3 + in single doped and co-doped borate glass

Abstract A series of Eu 3 + doped and Eu 3 + /Sm 3 + co-doped borate glasses was successfully synthesized by melt quenching and annealing. Luminescence properties, concentration quenching and energy transfer were examined through fluorescence spectra and decay curves. Results showed that the main concentration quenching mechanism of Eu 3 + -single-doped samples was nonradiative energy transfer through exchange interaction between Eu 3 + . Eu 2 O 3 at the optimized concentration of 8 mol% was co-doped with Sm 2 O 3 at various concentrations ranging from 0.3 mol% to 2.0 mol% to study energy transfer between Sm 3 + and Eu 3 + . Results indicated the existence of energy transfer from Sm 3 + to Eu 3 + upon 403 nm excitation. Fluorescence decays further revealed that energy transfer occurred between Eu 3 + and Sm 3 + in Eu 3 + , Sm 3 + co-doped samples.