Pressure-enhanced light emission and its structural origin in Er:GdVO4

Rare earth phosphors have been widely studied because of their sharp emission lines and excellent optical performance. However, photoluminescence (PL) tuning by crystal field in Er3+ embedded phosphors has always been a challenge. Here, we demonstrate that pressure can help to enhance the red and green light emission simultaneously in Er:GdVO4. Synchrotron X-ray diffraction investigations revealed that a structural phase transition was responsible for the enhancement. Our work brightens the future prospects for applications of Er3+-based PL materials in various fields, such as high power lasers and (bio) medical imaging.