Abstract
Photoluminescence (PL) enhancement of rare earth ions is in high demand due to their crucial applications in optoelectronics devices and biomedical frequency up-convertors for endoscopy, which could be realized by a plasmonic field enhancement effect of metallic nanoparticles (NPs). In this work, both the PL emission and Raman scattering enhancement of Pr3+ ions in CaF2 crystal host have been observed for the first time by embedding silver NPs. By Ag+ ion implantation, Ag NPs (around 5 nm) have been encapsulated into the Pr:CaF2 matrix. Analysis of the difference between linear optical absorption and PL excitation spectra within the plasmon band, the mechanism of observed PL enhancement has been attributed to the local field enhancement induced by the plasmonic NPs. The classical energy transfer process nanoparticle-emitter was not present. The detailed analysis of the PL enhancement induced by unannealed and annealed Ag NPs is compared under the measurement of PL decay, showing the dominant mechanism of the increased absorption and radiative decay rate, respectively. This work shows an efficient method to enhance PL emission of rare earth ions in the crystal based on the embedded metallic NPs, which could be used to optimize the photonic sensors and light emitting devices.
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