Preparation and photoluminescence enhancement of Au nanoparticles embedded LaPO4:Eu3+ inverse opals

In this work, we present a facile preparation approach of Au nanoparticles embedded LaPO₄:Eu³⁺ inverse opal photonic crystals. In the typical preparation process, the transparent LaPO₄:Eu³⁺ sol including HAuCI₄ was infiltrated into the opal templates. After the sintering, the 10‐20 nm Au nanoparticles were formed in the interior of nano‐sized wall of LaPO₄:Eu³⁺ inverse opal and the Au nanoparticles embedded LaPO₄:Eu³⁺ inverse opals were obtained. The luminescence of Au nanoparticles embedded LaPO₄:Eu³⁺ inverse opal was investigated. The emission peaks located at the 593 (⁵D₀→⁷F₁), 618 (⁵D₀→⁷F₂) and 698 nm (⁵D₀→⁷F₄) from Eu³⁺ ions were observed. The 593, 618, and 698 nm emissions of Au nanoparticles embedded LaPO₄:Eu³⁺ inverse opals were enhanced in contrast to these of LaPO₄:Eu³⁺ inverse opal without the Au nanoparticles, which is from the excitation field enhancement caused by the localized surface plasmon resonance of Au nanoparticles.