Metal Transition Doped Zn1.3Ga1.4Sn0.3O4 Persistent Phosphors for Anti-Counterfeiting Applications

Real-time fluorescence of lanthanides for anti-counterfeiting purposes is susceptive to give interferences with the background and excitation light. In this context, background-free anti-counterfeiting technology is highly desired and developed [1]–[3]. Thus, persistent luminescence (PersL) materials could to be used to avoid background noise [4], [5]. Meanwhile, current anti-counterfeiting technologies face the challenges of low security and the inconvenience of being limited to visible light emission. A possible strategy is to develop NIR PersL materials or materials covering dual emitting wavelengths. In this study, we report a new PersL nanomaterial namely ZGSO:Ni ²⁺ ,Cr ³⁺ ,Er ³⁺ NPs prepared by “top-down” method and its PersL covers well from the deep red toward NIR-II ranges. We have reported NIR-I Persist. Lum. of Cr ³⁺ ions in bulk ZGSO ceramics corresponding to the 2E → ⁴ A 2 (4F) transition [6], and were able to tune the optical properties of ZGSO by precisely controlling the crystal field by the use of Sn in these bulk materials.