A portable luminescent thermometer based on green up-conversion emission of Er(3+)/Yb(3+) co-doped tellurite glass

The determination of temperature is essential in many applications in the biomedical, technological, and industrial fields. Optical thermometry appears to be an excellent alternative for conventional electric temperature sensors because it is a non-contact method that offers a fast response, electromagnetic passivity, and high temperature sensitivity. In this paper, we propose an optical thermometer probe comprising an Er(3+)/Yb(3+) co-doped tellurite glass attached to the tip of an optical fibre and optically coupled to a laser source and a portable USB spectrometer. The ratio of the up-conversion green emission integrated peak areas when excited at 980 nm was temperature dependent, and it was used to calibrate the thermometer. The thermometer was operated in the range of 5–50 °C and 50–200 °C, and it revealed excellent linearity (r(2) > 0.99), suitable accuracy, and precisions of ±0.5 and ±1.1 °C, respectively. By optimizing Er(3+) concentration, we could obtain the high green emission intensity, and in turn, high thermal sensitivity for the probe. The probe fabricated in the study exhibited suitable properties for its application as a temperature sensor and superior performance compared to other Er(3+) -based optical thermometers in terms of thermal sensitivity.