title: Photoluminescence of Eu³⁺-doped glasses with Cu²⁺ impurities.
abstract: Glasses activated with Eu(3+) ions are attractive as luminescent materials for various photonic applications. Co-doping with copper has been proposed for enhancing material optical properties, but the quenching effect of Cu(2+) impurities on Eu(3+) emission in glass remains largely unexplored. In this work, Eu2O3/CuO-containing barium-phosphate glasses have been prepared by the melt-quench method, and the Eu(3+) photoluminescence (PL) quenching resulting from Eu(3+)→Cu(2+) energy transfer was evaluated. Optical absorption spectroscopy showed that with the increase in CuO concentration the Cu(2+) absorption band resonant with Eu(3+) emission (e.g. (5)D0→(7)F2 transition around 615 nm) developed steadily. As a result, Eu(3+) PL was progressively quenched. Evaluation of the quenching constants as a function of temperature in the 298-673K range showed differences basically within experimental error, consistent with a resonant transfer and lack of phonon-assisted processes. Moreover, analysis of the Eu(3+) emission decay dynamics revealed a strong correlation between the decay rates and Cu(2+) impurity levels. Results imply that for practical applications the levels of Cu(2+) in Eu(3+)/Cu(+)-activated glasses should be reduced if not removed as these will significantly limit device efficiency.
authors: Department of Chemistry, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA. Electronic address: jose.jimenez@unf.edu.
authors: José A
authors: JA
authors: Jiménez
mesh_terms: D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D005063:Europium / Q000737:chemistry*; D005898:Glass / Q000737:chemistry*; D049449:Luminescence; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D010087:Oxides; D005063:Europium; D003300:Copper
keywords: Energy transfer; Luminescence; Optical properties; Rare earths