Upconversion luminescence of lanthanide-doped mixed CaMoO4–CaWO4 micro-/nano-materials

Abstract

Uniform mixed CaMoO₄–CaWO₄ micro-/nano-materials have been successfully synthesised by a facile hydrothermal method. The morphology of these upconversion materials could be changed to different shapes and the size could also be decreased from the micro- to nano-scale by varying the type of surfactant used. It was observed that before heat treatment, the materials show relatively weak green light emission under excitation at 975 nm, whereas after heat treatment, the intensity of the upconversion luminescence increases dramatically while the intensity of the red component decreases relatively. By adjusting the molybdate/tungstate ratio, it was found that the samples with a higher molybdate content have stronger luminescence properties. XRD measurements have been done to investigate the structure of the mixed CaMoO₄–CaWO₄ upconversion materials. The effect of heat treatment at different temperatures on the emission spectra and XRD patterns has also been studied. TG-DTA was used to further confirm the most suitable temperature for heat treatment. The luminescence lifetimes and CIE coordinates for these samples were also determined. Additionally it was found that Gd³⁺ co-doping could further increase the upconversion luminescence from these mixed CaMoO₄–CaWO₄ materials. Finally, monitoring the upconversion luminescence intensity as a function of laser pump power confirmed the upconversion process to be a two-photon absorption mechanism.