Optical properties of Ce3+–Nd3+ co-doped YAG nanoparticles for visual and near-infrared biological imaging

Abstract

AbstractCe3+–Nd3+ co-doped Y3Al5O12 (YAG) nanoparticles, an average size of 20–30nm clusters aggregated by 8–10nm YAG nanoparticles, were synthesized by a solvothermal method. When excited by blue irradiation source, strong and broad yellow luminescence (centered at 526nm) from Ce3+ as well as near-infrared (NIR) luminescence (890, 1066 and 1335nm) of Nd3+ was observed simultaneously. It occurred by the effective dipole–dipole energy transfer from Ce3+ to Nd3+. Energy transfer efficiency from Ce3+ to Nd3+ was also calculated to be 50%. The optical property suggests that Ce3+–Nd3+ co-doped YAG nanoparticles can be used as an efficient fluorescence imaging agent for not only visual but also near-infrared imaging