Quantum cutting mechanism in Tb3+-Yb3+ co-doped oxyfluoride glass

Rate equations were created to describe cooperative quantum cutting phenomena, which incorporated the interactions between donor Tb3+ and acceptor Yb3+ ions. Two judgment criteria were developed for the excitation power dependence and time-resolved luminescence spectra of donor and acceptor ions, which can be used to verify the proposed mechanism. Under the excitation of a 473 nm continuous wave laser, the emission intensities of Tb3+ and Yb3+ increased linearly with the excitation power. The decay curve of Yb3+ indicated two distinct contributions: the fast decay time of its own lifetime, and the slow decay time representing the lifetime of the D-5(4) energy level of Tb3+. The experimental results meet the two judgment criteria, which confirmed the proposed cooperative quantum cutting mechanism in Tb3+-Yb3+ co-doped oxyfluoride glass. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3662916]