Tunable luminescence from Ce-doped aluminoborosilicate glasses

A series of aluminoborosilicate glasses were prepared using the melt-quenching technique for mixture of stoichiometric amounts of SiO2, Al2O3, H3BO3, Na2CO3, and ZrO2 with adding of different amounts of CeO2. The samples were investigated by means of luminescence spectroscopy. Tunable luminescence from violet to blue/green was observed from these glasses with different Xe-lamp excitation wavelengths ranging from 370 to 480 nm as well as with laser excitation of 266 and 355 nm. Moreover it was found that the possibility of tuning the light by changing of excitation wavelength was not unique. The same effect was observed by adjusting conditions for luminescence measurements as well as under exposure to β-irradiation. The obtained phenomena could be explained taking into account structural characteristics of this glass and it could be concluded that tunable luminescence results from the presence of different Ce-sites the glass matrix. Thus the results suggest that Ce-doped glasses could be considered as conversion materials for blue light-emitting diode chips to generate white light-emitting diodes.