LAUSR

Abstract Transparent nanocrystalline glass (NCG) with GdVO4:Eu nanocrystals embedded in sintered nanoporous silica glass (NPSG) is synthesized, and intense photoluminescence and energy transfer are observed. X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro-Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and high-resolution TEM (HR-TEM) analyses confirm that GdVO4:Eu nanocrystals are dispersed in silica glass. The photoluminescence intensity of Eu3+ is significantly enhanced by the microcrystallization process. After microcrystallization, the photoluminescence intensity increases by 41 and 14 times for glass that has Eu3+ singly doped and glass codoped with Gd3+, VO43−, and Eu3+, respectively. When Gd3+ and Eu3+, Gd3+ and V5+, and V5+ and Eu3+ are respectively double-doped, the efficiencies of Gd3+ → Eu3+, VO43- → Eu3+, and Gd3+ → VO43− energy transfers are assayed to be 22.3%, 24.7%, and 70.1%, respectively. In Eu3+, Gd3+, and V5+ triple-doped samples, in addition to the above energy transfer processes, there is a Gd3+ → VO43- → Eu3+ energy transfer. Nevertheless, VO43- → Eu3+ is still the main process. Especially after microcrystallization, the transfer efficiency of VO43- → Eu3+ is significantly increased to 90.9% because the lattice site of Gd3+ is replaced by Eu3+ in GdVO4 crystallites.