Fabrication and comprehensive structural and spectroscopic properties of Er:Y2O3 transparent ceramics

Transparent Er:Y2O3 ceramics with sub-micron grain size (<1 mu m) were fabricated by using one-step vacuum sintering followed by hot isostatic pressing (HIPing) technique. The transmission of the undoped Y2O3 reaches 83%. The structural characteristics including the phonon energy were investigated through X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurement. The overall spectroscopic properties of transmission, fluorescence emission up to 3000 nm, lifetime, up-conversion luminescence, and refractive index were systematically studied for both 0.25 at% and 7.0 at% Er:Y2O3 ceramics with different thicknesses. The comparison of the spectra of the fluorescence emission and up-conversion luminescence under both 976 and 808 nm laser excitation was performed. The multiple high-energy-state transitional processes after the excited state absorption (ESA) processes involved in the up-conversion are discriminated between the multi-phonon non-radiative transitions and the radiative transitions according to the measured maximum phonon vibrational energy. The calculation was performed based on the Judd-Ofelt theory. (c) 2021 Chinese Society of Rare Earths. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Transparent Er:Y2O3 ceramics with sub-micron grain size were fabricated using vacuum sintering followed by hot isostatic pressing technique. The structural characteristics and spectroscopic properties of the ceramics were systematically studied.