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Tuning Green to Red Color in Erbium Niobate Micro- and Nanoparticles

Authors: Devesa, S; Rodrigues, J; Teixeira, SS; Rooney, AP;Graca, MPF;Cooper, D; Monteiro, T; Costa, LC

Ref.: Nanomaterials 11(3), 660 (2021)

Abstract: Tetragonal Er0.5Nb0.5O2 and monoclinic ErNbO4 micro- and nanoparticles were prepared by the citrate sol-gel method and heat-treated at temperatures between 700 and 1600 degrees C. ErNbO4 revealed a spherical-shaped crystallite, whose size increased with heat treatment temperatures. To assess their optical properties at room temperature (RT), a thorough spectroscopic study was conducted. RT photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy revealed that Er3+ optical activation was achieved in all samples. The photoluminescence spectra show the green/yellow H-2(11/2), S-4(3/2)-> I-4(15/2) and red F-4(9/2)-> I-4(15/2) intraionic transitions as the main visible recombination, with the number of the crystal field splitting Er3+ multiplets reflecting the ion site symmetry in the crystalline phases. PL excitation allows the identification of Er3+ high-energy excited multiplets as the preferential population paths of the emitting levels. Independently of the crystalline structure, the intensity ratio between the green/yellow and red intraionic transitions was found to be strongly sensitive to the excitation energy. After pumping the samples with a resonant excitation into the (4)G(11/2) excited multiplet, a green/yellow transition stronger than the red one was observed, whereas the reverse occurred for higher excitation photon energies. Thus, a controllable selective excited tunable green to red color was achieved, which endows new opportunities for photonic and optoelectronic applications.

DOI: 10.3390/nano11030660