White light luminescence in Dy/Tm co-doped yttria stabilized zirconia single crystals

A series of high quality Dy2O3 and Tm2O3 co-doped yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) single crystals was synthesized. These crystals have a single cubic structure, and exhibit the characteristic of Dy3+ (blue and yellow emissions) and Tm3+ (blue emission) under excitation with NUV light. Importantly, the hue can be varied between blue and white by modifying the Tm3+/Dy3+ ratio. The photoluminescence and decay curves are consistent with the existence of resonance-type energy transfer from Tm3+ to Dy3+ ions via an electric multipole interaction mechanism. Maximum luminescence intensity is observed in YSZ doped with 0.50 mol% Tm2O3 and 0.75 mol% Dy2O3, and this sample has CIE coordinates (x = 0.33, y = 0.33) in accordance with those for white chromaticity. Thus, the outstanding luminescence properties of these single crystals suggest potential applications in white light emission devices.(c) 2023 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Society of Rare Earths.