The weak emission intensity of rare-earth element-doped dual-mode materials leads to low-sensor sensitivity, which is a challenge in optical sensor applications. The present work achieved high-sensor sensitivity and high green color purity based on the intense green dual-mode emission of Er/Yb/Mo-doped CaZrO3 perovskite phosphors. Their structure, morphology, luminescent properties, and optical temperature sensing properties have been investigated in detail. Phosphor shows a uniform cubic morphology with an average size of approximately 1 μm. Rietveld refinement confirms the formation of single-phase orthorhombic CaZrO3. Under the excitation of 975 and 379 nm, the phosphor emits pure green up and down-conversion (UC and DC) emission at 525/546 nm corresponding to 2H11/2/4S3/2-4I15/2 transitions of Er3+ ions, respectively. Intense green UC emissions were achieved because of energy transfer (ET) from the high-energy excited state of Yb3+-MoO42- dimer to the 4F7/2 level of Er3+ ion. Furthermore, the decay kinetics of all obtained phosphors confirmed ET efficiency from Yb3+-MoO42- dimer to Er3+ ions, leading to strong green DC emission. Moreover, the DC of the obtained phosphor shows that a sensor sensitivity value of 0.697% K-1 at 303 K is higher than the UC (0.667% K-1 at 313 K) because the thermal effect generated by the DC excitation source light is ignored compared with UC luminescence. CaZrO3:Er-Yb-Mo phosphor shows intense green dual-mode emission with high green color purity, 96.50% of DC and 98% of UC emissions, and high sensitivity, making it suitable for optoelectronic devices and thermal sensor applications.
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