Oxyfluoride glass (SiO_2-PbF_2) co-doped with Ag nanoclusters and Tm^3+ ions for UV-driven, Hg-free, white light generation with a tuneable tint

Abstract

Bulk SiO2-PbF2 oxyfluoride glasses co-doped with dispersed luminescent Ag nanoclusters and Tm3+ ions have been prepared by conventional melt-quenching method. Luminescence from 400 to 900 nm has been excited in this glass by UV light from 340 to 400 nm. The prepared glass has potential for application as a low cost glass phosphor in Hg-free white light generation in UV-driven devices, flexible monitors and as down-shifting layers for enhanced solar cells. Co-doping with Tm3+, which has an absorption band 3H6→1D2, affects the tint of the total Ag-Tm3+ white emission band of this glass by changing the excitation wavelength to about 365 nm, which is almost the same wavelength as that of a commercial LED.