Effects of Er3+and/or Cr3+doping on crystallization activation energy and fluorescence properties of transparent ZnGa2O4 glass-ceramics

Er3+ and/or Cr3+ doped transparent ZnGa2O4 glass-ceramics were successfully obtained by one-step heat treatment. The results showed that Er3+ ions can enrich around ZnGa2O4 crystal to reduce the crystallization activation energy and promote the growth of ZnGa2O4 crystal. Cr3+ ions may successfully occupy the Ga3+ sites in the ZnGa2O4 lattice but will increase crystallization activation energy and inhibit the growth of the ZnGa2O4 crystal. Before and after crystallization, the coordination-field intensity of Cr3+ ions increased from 2.17 to 2.86, resulting in the peak position of its emission spectra moving from 850 to 688 nm. By excitation at 378 nm, the precursor glass co-doped with Er3+ and Cr3+ ions only showed the characteristic emission peaks belonging to Er3+ ions. After heat treatment, the characteristic emission peaks belonging to Er3+ and Cr3+ ions existed simultaneously, and the emission color changed from green to yellow. By excitation at 980 nm, there were only characteristic emission peaks belonging to Er3+ ions of the Er3+/Cr3+ co-doped glasses before and after heat treatment. The results showed that the Er3+ and/or Cr3+ doped ZnGa2O4 glass-ceramics have adjustable lumi-nescence ability and show potential application value in the field of luminescence display.