Investigating the impact of Y/Lu ratio on the optical, luminescent, and thermal properties of YLuAG:Yb,Er optical ceramics

Abstract

For the first time, optical ceramics with the composition YLuAG: Yb (5 at.%), Er (3 at.%) have been successfully fabricated using the non-reactive vacuum sintering method, with the Y/Lu ratio varying from 80/20 to 20/80. According to X-ray diffraction data of the ceramic powders, it was found that as the Lu content increases from 20/80 to 80/20, the crystal lattice parameters decrease from 11.9960 to 11.9354 Å. Ceramic samples with different Y/Lu ratios, obtained at vacuum sintering temperatures of 1800, 1825, and 1850 °C, exhibited high optical quality, with transmittance exceeding 80 %. The spectral absorption and emission characteristics of the obtained ceramics were investigated. It was demonstrated that an increase in the concentration of Lu3+ leads to a change in the strength of the crystal field, resulting in a shift of the absorption and emission bands towards both the blue and red regions. Notably, the position of the most intense luminescence bands at 1030 and 1531 nm remained unchanged. Furthermore, it was determined that the efficiency of excitation energy transfer from Yb3+ to Er3+ increases with an increase in the proportion of Lu in YLuAG: Yb, Er ceramics. The effect of the Y/Lu ratio on the thermophysical characteristics and hardness of YLuAG: Yb, Er ceramics was also demonstrated.