Luminescence properties of Eu3+ or Dy3+/Au co-doped SiO2 nanoparticles

Silica nanoparticles, prepared by the Stober method, have been doped with Eu 3+ , Dy 3+ , or processed to result in Au nanoparticles on the silica surface. The luminescence of the rare earth (RE)-doped SiO 2 particles has been studied as a function of the nature of the RE, their concentration and also of the presence of Au nanoparticles at the surface of the SiO 2 nanoparticles. We have shown that the Eu 3+ emission is observable over the experimental conditions examined, whereas it was not possible to observe any emission for Dy 3+ doped materials. No enhancement of the Eu 3+ emission was observed following the adsorption of gold nanoparticles at the surface of the SiO 2 nanoparticle, however an excitation at 250 nm leads to both the emission of the matrix and Eu 3+ showing an energy transfer from the SiO 2 matrix to Eu 3+ ions.