Fabrication of Luminescent Antireflective Coatings with CaMoO4:Eu3+/Ag Composite Structure

Highly transparent and luminescent CaMoO4:Eu/Ag composite films were fabricated on glass substrates as multifunctional antireflective (AR) coatings. The films were deposited through a combination of a sol–gel dip-coating technique and a hot water treatment. With the addition of an aluminum source in coating solutions, the sol–gel-derived films underwent a remarkable microstructural change during the hot water treatment due to the reaction between an amorphous alumina phase and water. This change brought both an antireflective effect (suppression of Fresnel reflection) and luminescence enhancement (suppression of total internal reflection) to the films. The introduction of Ag nanoparticles into the films further increased luminescence intensity without losing the antireflective effect.