Energy transfer in Er:Eu:Yb co-doped tellurite glasses: Yb as enhancer and quencher

Energy transfer has been studied from Er3+ to Eu3+ ions on excitation with NIR photons (796 and 980 nm) with and without Yb3+ ions. It is found that in one case the presence of Yb3+ enhances the fluorescence yield (980 nm excitation) whereas in the other case it quenches (796 nm excitation). Energy transfer from Er3+ ionʹs levels 4S3/2 and 2H11/2 is verified by decay curve analysis in both the cases. The nature of interaction between the donor (Er) and the acceptor (Eu) ions is found to be dipole–dipole. The energy transfer parameters viz. transfer probability, critical distance etc. have been calculated.