Fabrication of highly transparent Er3+, Yb3+:Y2O3 ceramics with La2O3/ZrO2 as sintering additives and the near-infrared and upconversion luminescence properties

Highly transparent Er3+, Yb3+:Y2O3 ceramics were fabricated by pressureless vacuum sintering method using La2O3 and ZrO2 as compound sintering additives. The microstructure, optical transmittance, upconversion and near-infrared spectral properties of the ceramics were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectrometry and spectroscopic analysis methods. The sintered ceramics displayed a pure cubic Y2O3 phase structure and a nearly pore-free microstructure with homogeneous grain morphology and grain-size distribution. The highest transmittance of Er3+, Yb3+:Y2O3 ceramics sintered at 1800 degrees C for 14 h with 9 at% of La2O3 and 3 at% of ZrO2 as compound additives was more than 82% in the range of 380-3000 nm. Under 980 nm wavelength excitation, the ceramics exhibited intense blue, green and red upconversion emission, and broad-bandwidth near-infrared emission centered at 1536 nm, which gives it the potential to act as a high-performance solid-state 1.54 mm near-infrared and upconversion laser gain media. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.