Energy transfer analysis of Tb3+ and Yb3+ ions doped in borosilicate glass

We investigated the spectroscopic properties of borosilicate glass co-doped with Tb3+ and Yb3+, focusing our attention on studying the possibility of the cooperative up-conversion process in the Tb3+-Yb3+ co-doped system as a pumping scheme for Tb3+. A rate equation model for the Tb3+-Yb3+ co-doped system were analyzed. The model could reproduce the up-conversion emission dynamics well for all the samples co-doped with different Tb3+ number densities.