Red-green-blue upconversion emission and energy-transfer between Tm 3+ and Er 3+ ions in tellurite glasses excited at 1.064 μm

Red, green, and blue emission through frequency upconversion and energy-transfer processes in tellurite glasses doped with Tm 3+ and Er 3+ excited at 1.064 μm is investigated. The Tm 3+ /Er 3+ -codoped samples produced intense upconversion emission signals at around 480, 530, 550 and 660 nm. The 480 nm blue emission was originated from the 1 G 4 → 3 H 6 transition of the Tm 3+ ions excited by a multiphoton stepwise phonon-assisted excited-state absorption process. The 530, 550 nm green and 660 nm red upconversion luminescences were identified as originating from the 2 H 11/2 , 4 S 3/2 → 4 I 15/2 and 4 F 9/2 → 4 I 15/2 transitions of the Er 3+ ions, respectively, populated via efficient cross-relaxation processes and excited-state absorption. White light generation employing a single infrared excitation source is also examined.