Luminescence and energy transfer of Ce3+, Eu2+ co-doped Ba2Mg(BO3)2 for potential anti-counterfeiting applications

The phosphors Ba2Mg(BO3)2 activated with Ce3+ and Eu2+ ions are prepared by a solid-state reaction method at high-temperature and the Rietveld structure refinement of the host compound is performed. The synchrotron radiation VUV - UV excitation, UV – vis emission and luminescence decay spectra, as well as the dependencies of luminescence intensity and lifetime on doping content and temperature are systematically investigated. In addition, the electron-vibrational interaction (EVI) of Eu2+ ions with coordination surroundings and the Ce3+→Eu2+ energy transfer (ET) dynamics are studied in detail. Based on above discussion, the potential applications of co-doped phosphors in excitation wavelength and temperature dual-response optical anti-counterfeiting are demonstrated.