Enhanced upconversion luminescence and optical temperature sensing performance in Er3+ doped BaBi2Nb2O9 ferroelectric ceramic

A series of BaBi2-xNb2ErxO9 ceramic compositions with different Er3+ concentration (x = 0.0–8 mol %) is synthesized by a conventional solid-state reaction method. The upconversion (UC) light emission under 980 nm excitation with different pump powers and luminescence-based temperature sensing ability of BaBi2-xNb2ErxO9 composition have been examined. The formation of a Bi-layered perovskite phase of BaBi2Nb2O9 is confirmed having an orthorhombic geometry and Fmmm space group. Shifts in the Raman modes indicate reduced interaction of Bi3+ ions with NbO6 octahedron leading to relaxation of structural distortion with increasing Er3+ content. The maximum value for remnant polarization and coercive field of doped BaBi2-xNb2ErxO9 ceramic for (x = 0.08) Erbium concentration comes out to be 2.9524 μC/cm2 and 49.8980 kV/cm. For an optimum content of x = 0.04, two strong UC green emission bands were observed at 549 nm via 4S3/2 → 4I15/2 transition and 527 nm via 2H11/2 → 4I15/2 transitions, and a weak red emission appears at 657 nm attributed to the 4F9/2 → 4I15/2 transition. Pump power dependence suggests that UC emission is a two-photon mechanism for red and green emission bands. Temperature sensing evaluated by the change in the fluorescence intensity ratio (I527/I549) indicates the highest sensitivity to be 0.00996 K−1 at 483 K for an optimum concentration of Er3+ at x = 0.04 in BaBi2-xNb2ErxO9 composition and is useful for non-contact optical thermometry.