Influence of high magnetic field on the luminescence of Eu3+-doped glass ceramics

Rare earth (RE) doped materials have been widely exploited as the intriguing electronic configuration of RE ions offers diverse functionalities from optics to magnetism. However, the coupling of magnetism with photoluminescence (PL) in such materials has been rarely reported in spite of its fundamental significance. In the present paper, the effect of high pulsed magnetic field on the photoluminescence intensity of Eu3+-doped nano-glass-ceramics has been investigated. In our experiment, Eu-doped oxyfluoride glass and glass ceramic were prepared by the conventional melt-quenching process and controlled heat treatment. The results demonstrate that the integrated PL intensity of Eu3+ decreases with the enhancement of magnetic field, which can be interpreted in terms of cooperation effect of Zeeman splitting and magnetic field induced change in site symmetry. Furthermore, as a result of Zeeman splitting, both blue and red shift in the emission peaks of Eu3+ can be observed, and this effect becomes more prominent with the increase of magnetic field. Possible mechanisms associated with the observed magneto-optical behaviors are suggested. The results of the present paper may open a new gate for modulation of luminescence by magnetic field and remote optical detection of magnetic field.