Surface-plasmon induced polarized emission from Eu(III)--a class of luminescent lanthanide ions

Abstract

The intrinsically unpolarized emission from luminescent Eu(III) ions is transformed to wavelength-resolved and sharply directional polarized emission by coupling with plasmonic and photonic modes present in metal-dielectric layered substrates. This nanoscale control over lanthanide luminescence can facilitate the design of novel emissive structures with potential technological applications.

Fig. 1

The illumination geometry (Reverse Kretschmann), angle notations and emission polarizer orientations for recording the S- and P-polarized components of Eu(III) luminescence.

Fig. 2

Representative spectra (A) and angular distributions (B) for S-(dotted) and P-polarized (solid lines) emission of Eu(III) at 590 nm (black), 615 nm (green) and 695 nm (red), embedded in 50 nm PVA layer coated on glass. The maximum intensities of the three emission wavelengths for each polarization are normalized to unity in (B).

Fig. 3

Representative spectra (A) and angular distributions (B) for S- (dotted) and P-polarized (solid lines) emission of Eu(III) at 590 nm (black), 615 nm (green) and 695 nm (red) on Ag- PVA substrates with different PVA thickness. Reflectivity calculations for the corresponding wavelengths and polarizations, for each substrate are shown in (C).

Fig. 4

Reflectivity simulations for S- (dotted lines) and P-polarized (solid lines) light of wavelengths, 590 nm (black), 615 nm (green) and 695 nm (red), showing the dependence of angle of minimum reflectivity on the PVA thickness. Experimentally determined angles at which maximum intensity of S- (hollow circles) and P-polarized emission (solid circles) can be observed from Eu(III) embedded in Ag-PVA substrates with PVA thicknesses of 50, 95, 125 and 300 nm, are indicated on the graph.