Ultraviolet upconversion luminescence enhancement in Yb3+/Er3+-codoped Y2O3 nanocrystals induced by tridoping with Li+ ions

Ultraviolet (UV) upconversion (UC) luminescence in Yb3+/Er3+-codoped yttrium oxide (Y2O3) nanocrystals can be enhanced by orders of magnitude via tridoping further with Li+ ions under diode laser excitation of 970 nm. Sensitized three-photon UC radiations at 390 and 409 nm, corresponding to the 4G11/2→4I15/2 and 4H9/2→4I15/2 of Er3+ ions, respectively, present an enhancement time of about 33 times, which is larger than the 24 times enhancement for the UC green radiation. The UV UC radiation at 320 nm that corresponds to the 2P3/2→4I15/2 of Er3+ ions has also been greatly enhanced. Theoretical calculations interpret that all the observed enhancement times of UV UC radiations arise from the prolonged lifetimes of their intermediate states.