Photoelectric properties of glass-ceramics containing KTbF nanocrystals for UV detection.

In this work, a glass ceramics (GC) containing KTbF nanocrystals was fabricated by controlled crystallization of an fluorosilicate glass heat-treatment. The microstructure, luminescence, and photoelectric properties of the GCs are systematically studied by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, spectral analysis, and current-voltage (-) curves. The results show that the GC containing KTbF nanocrystals exhibit intense visible emission due to the 4f transition of Tb: D ( = 3, 4) → F ( = 0-6) upon excitation of ultraviolet (UV) light. In addition, a UV detector device based on the GC was fabricated, which has a large dynamic linear response range, fast response speed and high sensitivity. This study not only provides a new material for UV detector that can simplify the process of UV detection, but also highlight a new strategy for UV detection.