Color‐tunable luminescence and energy transfer of Eu 3+ /Tb 3+ co‐doped borophosphate glass for anti‐counterfeiting

Abstract Eu 3+ /Tb 3+ co‐doped borophosphate glass was synthesized by a melt‐quenching method for the luminescence color‐tunable performance. Under the excitation of 373 nm, the Tb 3+ ‐doped glass exhibited a very strong green emission at 544 nm, corresponding to the electron transition 5 D 4 → 7 F 5 of Tb 3+ . The emission intensity and lifetime of 5 D 4 level of Tb 3+ dropped with the increase of Eu 3+ co‐doping, whereas the emission intensity and lifetime of Eu 3+ at 615 nm increased, confirming the existence of energy transfer from Tb 3+ to Eu 3+ . Additionally, the color‐tunable luminescence of the borophosphate glass was also realized from green region to orange‐red region through shifting the Eu 3+ /Tb 3+ ion concentration and the excitation light. There was little difference in emission intensity of Eu 3+ /Tb 3+ co‐doped borophosphate glass under working temperature between 303 and 483 K, manifesting excellent thermal stability. This study indicated that the Eu 3+ /Tb 3+ co‐doped borophosphate glass could become a promising candidate for the applications of anti‐counterfeiting technology.