White- and blue-light-emitting dysprosium(III) and terbium(III)-doped gadolinium titanate phosphors

Here we report the synthesis and structural, morphological, and photoluminescence analysis of white- and blue-light-emitting Dy^{3 +}- and Tm^{3 +}-doped Gd₂Ti₂O₇ nanophosphors. Single-phase cubic Gd₂Ti₂O₇ nanopowders consist of compact, dense aggregates of nanoparticles with an average size of ~25 nm for Dy^{3 +}-doped and ~50 nm for Tm^{3 +}-doped samples. The photoluminescence results indicated that ultraviolet (UV) light excitation of the Dy^{3 +}-doped sample resulted in direct generation of white light, while a dominant yellow emission was obtained under blue-light excitation. Intense blue light was obtained for Tm^{3 +}-doped Gd₂Ti₂O₇ under UV excitation suggesting that this material could be used as a blue phosphor.