Structure and optical properties of lithium aluminosilicate glassceramics containing Ho3+-doped and Ho3+/Yb3+ co-doped YNbO4 nanocrystals
Abstract
Transparent lithium aluminosilicate glass-ceramics containing nanosized orthorhombic (7–10 nm), or tetragonal (14–25 nm) and monoclinic (10–17 nm) crystals of rare-earth (RE) orthoniobates Ho³⁺:YNbO₄ or Ho³⁺/Yb³⁺:YNbO₄ and β-quartz or β-spodumene solid solution (ss) were prepared by secondary heat treatments of parent glasses doped with RE oxides and Nb₂O₅ at 720–1350 °C. The dual role of RE orthoniobates as nucleating agents and functional phases in glass-ceramics is demonstrated using DSC, XRD, TEM, Raman and optical spectroscopy. The latter also confirms that the Yb³⁺ and Ho³⁺ ions are incorporated into the YNbO₄ nanocrystals. The heat treatment of parent glasses at 720 °C leads to liquid phase separation and the formation of RENbO₄ crystals with orthorhombic structure. The nature of RE ion affects the rate of phase transformations. The addition of ytterbium ions to yttrium and holmium ones accelerates the crystallization not only of RE orthoniobate but also of the lithium aluminosilicate phase with β-quartz structure. Crystals of tetragonal and monoclinic (clinofergusonite-type) RENbO₄ appear in glass-ceramics obtained by heat treatments at 1000 °C and above followed by cooling to room temperature, the β-quartz ss transforms to β-spodumene ss, and the glass-ceramics become translucent and then opaque. Glass-ceramics with Ho³⁺:YNbO₄ nanocrystals exhibit intense green and red luminescence. Color-tunable upconversion luminescence from glass-ceramics with Ho³⁺/Yb³⁺:YNbO₄ nanocrystals is detected under near-infrared excitation. The color properties of emission from glass-ceramics can be controlled by the heat treatment schedule due to structural changes in RE orthoniobate nanocrystals.
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BibTeX
@article{dymshits2026structure,
title = {{Structure and optical properties of lithium aluminosilicate glassceramics containing Ho3+-doped and Ho3+/Yb3+ co-doped YNbO4 nanocrystals}},
author = {Olga Dymshits and Anna Volokitina and Pavel Loiko and Irina Alekseeva and Marina Tsenter and Svetlana Zapalova and Kirill Bogdanov and Xavier Mateos and Alexander Baranov and Aleksandr Zhilin},
journal = {Optical Materials},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.optmat.2025.117745},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05838229v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Structure and optical properties of lithium aluminosilicate glassceramics containing Ho3+-doped and Ho3+/Yb3+ co-doped YNbO4 nanocrystals
AU - Olga Dymshits
AU - Anna Volokitina
AU - Pavel Loiko
AU - Irina Alekseeva
AU - Marina Tsenter
AU - Svetlana Zapalova
AU - Kirill Bogdanov
AU - Xavier Mateos
AU - Alexander Baranov
AU - Aleksandr Zhilin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/25
JO - Optical Materials
DO - 10.1016/j.optmat.2025.117745
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05838229v1
AB - Transparent lithium aluminosilicate glass-ceramics containing nanosized orthorhombic (7–10 nm), or tetragonal (14–25 nm) and monoclinic (10–17 nm) crystals of rare-earth (RE) orthoniobates Ho³⁺:YNbO₄ or Ho³⁺/Yb³⁺:YNbO₄ and β-quartz or β-spodumene solid solution (ss) were prepared by secondary heat treatments of parent glasses doped with RE oxides and Nb₂O₅ at 720–1350 °C. The dual role of RE orthoniobates as nucleating agents and functional phases in glass-ceramics is demonstrated using DSC, XRD, TEM, Raman and optical spectroscopy. The latter also confirms that the Yb³⁺ and Ho³⁺ ions are incorporated into the YNbO₄ nanocrystals. The heat treatment of parent glasses at 720 °C leads to liquid phase separation and the formation of RENbO₄ crystals with orthorhombic structure. The nature of RE ion affects the rate of phase transformations. The addition of ytterbium ions to yttrium and holmium ones accelerates the crystallization not only of RE orthoniobate but also of the lithium aluminosilicate phase with β-quartz structure. Crystals of tetragonal and monoclinic (clinofergusonite-type) RENbO₄ appear in glass-ceramics obtained by heat treatments at 1000 °C and above followed by cooling to room temperature, the β-quartz ss transforms to β-spodumene ss, and the glass-ceramics become translucent and then opaque. Glass-ceramics with Ho³⁺:YNbO₄ nanocrystals exhibit intense green and red luminescence. Color-tunable upconversion luminescence from glass-ceramics with Ho³⁺/Yb³⁺:YNbO₄ nanocrystals is detected under near-infrared excitation. The color properties of emission from glass-ceramics can be controlled by the heat treatment schedule due to structural changes in RE orthoniobate nanocrystals.
SN - 0925-3467
SN - 1873-1252
ER -