Improving the luminescence intensity of Mn2+ doped B-P-Zn-K based glass–ceramics through tuning structure of Mn2+

For photoluminescence (PL) properties of Mn2+ in glass–ceramics are highly dependent on the concentration of Mn2+, we experimentally observed the change of Mn2+ structures from isolated Mn2+ ion as a tetrahedron, octahedron to Mn2+-Mn2+ dimer in B-P-Zn-K based glass–ceramics with characteristic PL peaks locating at 504 nm, 600 nm, and 660 nm, respectively. Spectral results reveal that condensed Mn2+ would lead to redshift of PL emission and reduced Luminous intensity caused by concentration quenching, however, with increasing Mn2+ content, shift of Mn2+ structure is the determining factor for PL redshift. Moreover, compared with tetrahedral and octahedral Mn2+, Mn2+-Mn2+ dimer exhibits highly enhanced PL emission and shortened life span which reveal that transitions of Mn2+-Mn2+ dimer are far more efficient than those transitions in tetrahedral and octahedral Mn2+. This enables tuning of color and efficiency of PL emission for Mn-doped glass–ceramics via a simple method.