Upconversion luminescence of cubic and hexagonal structured SrTa4O11:Er3+/Yb3+ phosphors

Cubic and hexagonal structured SrTa4O11(STO):Er3+/Yb3+ phosphors were synthesized by a solid state reaction (SSR) and molten salt synthesis (MSS). The upconversion luminescence (UCL) intensity of these samples was investigated. Hexagonal STO:Er3+/Yb3+ with much or a little β-Ta2O5 can be synthesized by SSR in air or vacuum, respectively, and the UCL intensity of the sample synthesized by SSR in a vacuum is higher. Cubic STO:Er3+/Yb3+ can be synthesized by MSS with KCl flux, and hexagonal STO:Er3+/Yb3+ can be synthesized by MSS with B2O3 flux, which has the strongest UCL intensity among all the samples compared with samples prepared by SSR. The sample by MSS with B2O3 flux was acid pickled (AP) with HCl solution, and the green UCL intensity increased by 2.18 times, which reached 32.95% for β-NaYF4:Er3+/Yb3+. The UCL intensity of the hexagonal STO:Er3+/Yb3+ is much higher than that of the cubic structure, which is due to the layered structure and the non-central symmetry of the Er3+/Yb3+ doped sites in hexagonal STO:Er3+/Yb3+. The temperature sensitivity of samples is evaluated by luminescence intensity ratio (LIR) technology. The maximum relative sensitivity is 0.0099 K−1 at 303 K. All the results show that hexagonal STO:Er3+/Yb3+ has excellent pure green UCL intensity and high temperature sensitivity, which can be used in UCL display and temperature sensing.