Towards quantification of luminance values in photoluminescence and Raman spectroscopies by using a reference material

Publication category: Article

Author(s): María Fernández-Álvarez, Sonia Marín-Cortés, Alberto Moure, José Francisco Fernández

Publication date: 25 January 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2025.178861

Language: English

Abstract: Nowadays, quantification in some spectroscopic techniques is a milestone to be achieved. This work aims to develop a new universal methodology to correlate the arbitrary intensity units from a photoluminescence spectrometer with luminance (µcd/mm2), to quantify the photoluminescent intensity of materials. Reference sample composites with different concentrations (0.1–10 % by weight) of Eu2O3 particles in an epoxy matrix were prepared and characterized by photoluminescence and their luminance was then measured with a luminancemeter. The results show that the proposed method successfully relates and quantifies the arbitrary units obtained from a photoluminescence spectrometer with the luminance at a given excitation wavelength. In addition, this study reveals that the method is applicable for quantifying luminescence measurements with a Raman spectrometer, provided that the photoluminescent materials have an excitation response near typical Raman excitation laser wavelengths. Furthermore, this new methodology was validated in the anti-counterfeiting application of value documents.

Keywords: Photoluminescence spectroscopy, Luminance, Raman spectroscopy, Anti-counterfeiting, Composite material