Cooperative sensitization upconversion of ex-situ sol-gel synthesized ZnO-SiO2: Nd3+/Yb3+ dense glass ceramic material under 980nm laser pumping

Herein, we use a modified ex-situ sol-gel synthesis route to prepare Zinc-Silicate (ZnO-SiO2:Nd3+/Yb3+) dense glass ceramic material. The Judd-Ofelt parameters were estimated from absorption spectra of the ZnO-SiO2:Nd3+/Yb3+ material. Upconversion luminescence (UCL) in the material was achieved due to the sensitization of Yb3+ ions through 980 nm diode laser excitation along with CIE 1931 chromaticity diagram to analyze the white light emission. PL confocal microscopy was used to confirm the spatially resolved PL of the material. Thus, the as-synthesized material demonstrates its viability by producing white luminescence across its surface when excited by a 980 nm diode laser, which could find potential applications in various photonic applications. TEM-EDS mapping of material was performed to visualize elemental doping of the material. The structural characterization of the material was studied with X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and FTIR spectroscopy to report invariance of ZnO-SiO2 host. The thorough removal of hydroxyl impurity (-OH) and the pyrolysis of zinc alkoxides were confirmed through thermogravimetric (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis.