In this paper, the synthesis of multi-stage excitable (379 nm, 980 nm and 1550 nm), highly luminescent Y2O3: Yb3+/ Er3+ nanorods by a hydrothermal method which can emit both hypersensitive green (562 nm) and strong red (660 nm) in a single host lattice and which can be used for a transparent security ink application is reported. Furthermore, these luminescent nanorods also exhibit both down-shift (1127 nm) as well as upconversion (562 nm) features at a single excitation near infrared wavelength of 980 nm. The characterization of these luminescent nanorods was explored by studying their structure/microstructure, using photoluminescence and time-resolved spectroscopic techniques. Furthermore, these luminescent nanorods exhibited the tuning of emission colours from red to green by controlling the sintering temperature. It was demonstrated that these novel luminescent nanorods offer new opportunities for making high-end, multi-stage excitable transparent security ink. The state-of-art production process of ink is easy and it is most suitable for bulk production at an economical cost. Thus, the security inks could be used globally in applications for protection against counterfeiting.
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