Korean Journal of Materials Research ISSN:1225-0562(Print) 2287-7258(Online) 한국재료학회지

SrMoO₄:RE³⁺ (RE=Dy, Sm, Tb, Eu, Dy/Sm) phosphors are prepared by co-precipitation method. The effects of the type and the molar ratio of activator ions on the structural, morphological, and optical properties of the phosphor particles are investigated. X-ray diffraction data reveal that all the phosphors have a tetragonal system with a main (112) diffraction peak. The emission spectra of the SrMoO₄ phosphors doped with several activator ions indicate different multicolor emissions: strong yellow-emitting light at 573 nm for Dy³⁺, red light at 643 nm for Sm³⁺, green light at 545 nm for Tb³⁺, and reddish orange light at 614 nm for Eu³⁺ activator ions. The Dy³⁺ singly-doped SrMoO₄ phosphor shows two dominant emission peaks at 479 and 573 nm corresponding to the ⁴F_9/2→⁶H_15/2 magnetic dipole transition and ⁴F_9/2→⁶H_13/2 electric dipole transition, respectively. For Dy³⁺ and Sm³⁺ doubly-doped SrMoO₄ phosphors, two kinds of emission peaks are observed. The two emission peaks at 479 and 573 nm are attributed to ⁴F_9/2→⁶H_15/2 and ⁴F_9/2→⁶H_13/2 transitions of Dy³⁺ and two emission bands centered at 599 and 643 nm are ascribed to ⁴G_5/2→⁶H_7/2 and ⁴G_5/2→⁶H_9/2 transitions of Sm³⁺. As the concentration of Sm³⁺ increases from 1 to 5 mol%, the intensities of the emission bands of Dy³⁺ gradually decrease; those of Sm³⁺ slowly increase and reach maxima at 5 mol% of Sm³⁺ ions, and then rapidly decrease with increasing molar ratio of Sm³⁺ ions due to the concentration quenching effect. Fluorescent security inks based on as-prepared phosphors are synthesized and designed to demonstrate an anticounterfeiting application.