Spectroscopic properties of Tb3+ as an ion for visible lasers

Abstract

In recent years, Tb3+-based solid-state lasers with emission in the green and yellow have seen a revival. This was owed to the availability of blue emitting semiconductor-based pump sources and recent findings, which reported more than 60% slope efficiency in the green and about 25% slope efficiency in the yellow. In this paper we review the state of the art of Tb3+-based solid-state lasers. We summarize the spectroscopic properties and present new insights, which enable us to provide valuable guidelines and recommendations for the choice of host materials to further improve the performance of Tb3+-based solid-state lasers.

White emission in 3D-printed phosphor microstructures

“…21 The suppression of the Tm 3+ 1 D 2 -3 H 6 transition (observed around 359 nm in the ZrO 2 :Tm 3+ spectrum) and accompanying appeareance of Tb 3+ 5 D 3 -7 F J emissions may imply the ET from the Tm 3+ 1 D 2 level to Tb 3+ 5 D 3 level, likely involving a relaxation. 21,22,25 Consistently, several intense Tb 3+ transitions ( 5 D 3 -7 F 6,5,4,3 ) are observed (E 380 nm, 410 nm, 440 nm, and 460 nm), which have previously been reported at low Tb 3+ (E 2 at%) concentrations in LiLuF 4 under 353 nm excitation. 22 At lower Tb 3+ concentrations, the probability of cross-relaxation decreases, promoting the 5 D 3 -7 F J transitions.…”

“…Although differences in photoluminescence (PL) and CL spectra may occur, the microscale feature size of the architectures is the main reason for selecting the CL in this study. 22 The CL spectrum collected from the undoped t -ZrO 2 buckyball is a sum of Gaussian components at approximately 3.5 eV (356 nm), 3.2 eV (393 nm), 2.9 eV (434 nm), 2.6 eV (485 nm), and 2.3 eV (546 nm) (Fig. 3(a)), previously assigned to the F + centers, oxygen vacancies ( V O ) and interstitial carbon ( C i ) point-defects.…”

Structural, optical spectroscopy and energy transfer features of Tb3+-activated (Y, Gd)F3 nanophosphors for UV-based LEDs

“…The terbium ion, owing to its sharp green emission at 495 and 547 nm, corresponding to 5 D 4 -7 F 6 and 5 D 4 -7 F 5 transitions, is the most sought out choice for dopant ions in the development of green phosphors. [9][10][11][12] But the intrinsic poor absorption coefficient of Tb 3+ to absorb ultraviolet (UV) light owing to forbidden f-f transitions leads to poor intensity of the emitted green light. There are two fruitful strategies to overcome this: exploring a low phonon energy host and utilizing a sensitizer for triggering energy transfer to Tb 3+ ions.…”

Optimized composition of LiREF4 (RE = TbxY1-x) crystals for efficient green and yellow lasers - fluorescence quenching in Tb3+ ions

“…In typical fluoride host crystals, like LiYF 4 or LiLuF 4 , pump-limited output powers of more than 1 W and 0.5 W were realized in the green and yellow, respectively. However, the slope efficiencies around 60% and 25% are far below the theoretical limits of 90% and 83%, respectively, for reasons not understood in detail, yet [2].…”