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 Dy3 + - and Tm3 + -doped Gd2 Ti2 O7 nanophosphors. Single-phase cubic Gd2 Ti2 O7 nanopowders consist of compact, dense aggregates of nanoparticles with an average size of ~25 nm for Dy3 + -doped and ~50 nm for Tm3 + -doped samples. The photoluminescence results indicated that ultraviolet (UV) light excitation of the Dy3 + -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 Tm3 + -doped Gd2 Ti2 O7 under UV excitation suggesting that this material could be used as a blue phosphor.