Soda-zinc-aluminosilicate glasses doped with Tb3+, Ce3+ and Sm3+ for frequency conversion and white light generation

Sodium-zinc-aluminosilicate (NaZAS) glasses doped with single or multiple rare earth ions (Ce 3+, Tb 3+, Sm 3+) were synthesized, and their characteristics investigated by m-line spectroscopy, absorption and luminescence spectroscopy, and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Blue-white light, with x = 0.24 and y = 0.24 CIE chromaticity coordinates, was obtained for the Tb 3+ singly-doped glass excited at 351 nm. In NaZAS glasses co-doped with Ce 3+ and Tb 3+ it was possible to observe a non-radiative energy transfer from Ce 3+ to Tb 3+ ions upon 320 nm excitation; the Ce 3+->Tb 3+ energy transfer microscopic parameter and efficiency were obtained from the analysis of the cerium emission decay curve. Different concentrations of Ce 3+ and Tb 3+ ions in the same glass host give rise to blue and blue-green emissions, with different CIE coordinates. Optical waveguides were also produced in the samples by means of Ag +-Na + ion exchange process, and characterized.