Design and achieving of multicolor upconversion emission based on rare-earth doped tellurite

Yb3+/Tm3+ co-doped and Yb3+/Ho3+/Tm3+ tri-doped tellurite glasses were synthesized by fusing the mixture of TeO2, PbF2, AlF3, BaF2, Yb2O3, Tm2O3 and Ho2O3 in a corundum crucible at 850 °C for 20 min. The synthesized glasses were characterized by upconversion emission spectra under the excitation of 980 nm laser, and the emission colors were investigated according to the CIE-1931 standards. The results indicated that Yb3+/Tm3+ co-doped tellurite glass exhibited blue upconversion emission with favorable color coordinates of (0.20, 0.07). Yb3+, Ho3+ and Tm3+ tri-doped tellurite glasses presented white upconversion luminescence under a single 980 nm laser excitation. Moreover, a very wide range of emission colors could be tuned by altering Ho3+ concentration. Combining the contribution of adjusting Ho3+ concentration and pump power, near equal energy white light was obtained.