Energy transfer from Ce3+ to Tb3+ and Eu3+ in zinc phosphate glasses

Ce3+, Eu3+ and Tb3+ singly doped and Ce3+/Eu3+ and Ce3+/Tb3+ co-doped zinc phosphate glasses were prepared by sintering P2O5, ZnO, Ce2(C2O4)3·10H2O and Eu2O3/Tb4O7 mixtures at 1200 °C in the air for 2 h and then annealing at 450 °C for 10 h. The obtained glasses were homogeneous and transparent. The glasses without Ce3+ were colorless and those with Ce3+ showed slightly yellow. The singly doped glasses showed strong emissions and excitations from doped trivalent rare earth ions. Strong energy transfer from Ce3+ to Tb3+ was observed for Ce3+/Tb3+ coped samples. There were also some very weak evidences for the energy transfer from Ce3+ to Eu3+.