Upconversion photoluminescence and optical temperature probe of Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped LAZT glass prepared by containerless aerodynamic levitation method

xEr3+/yYb3+ co-doped La2O3-Al2O3-ZrO2-TiO2 ([30-(30/88) × (x + y)]La2O3-[58-(58/88) × (x + y)]Al2O3-4ZrO2-8TiO2: x mol% Er2O3/y mol% Yb2O3, x = 2 mol%, and y = 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 mol%, abbreviated as: LAZT: xEr/yYb) glasses were synthesized using a containerless aerodynamic levitation technique. The maximum phonon energy, fluorescence performance and optical temperature measurement performance of the prepared glasses were studied. Raman test shows that the maximum phonon energy of all glasses is less than 355 cm−1, in which the low phonon energy can provide an excellent internal environment for the induction of fluorescence effects. Under excitation at 980 nm, all samples exhibit noticeable red emission peak centering at 662 nm and feeble green emission peak centering at 549 nm at room temperature. The luminous intensity reaches the highest value at x = 2 mol% and y = 12 mol%, at which the concentration quenching phenomenon occurs. The fluorescence mechanism of LAZT: xEr/yYb involves a double-photon process, in which the energy transfer process (ET) accounts for the main part and the excited state absorption process (ESA) accounts for the secondary part. The fluorescence intensity ratio (FIR) can be used for temperature sensing, and the absolute sensitivity FIR reaches maximum value of 1.3 × 10−2 K−1 at 79 K. These results indicate that the LAZT: 2Er/12Yb glass is expected to become a candidate material for non-contact optical temperature probe.