Europium( III )‐Doped MgAl 2 O 4 Spinel Nanophosphor Prepared by CO 2 Laser Co‐Vaporization

Photoluminescent nanoparticles ( NP s) are of specific interest for biomedical applications, bioimaging, and cell tracking. Here, we report on the synthesis of europium( III )‐doped MgAl 2 O 4 spinel NP s by the CO 2 laser co‐vaporization of a homogeneous raw powder mixture consisting of micrometer‐sized MgAl 2 O 4 and Eu 2 O 3 (2 and 4 mol%, respectively). The resulting NP s are spherically shaped, show a narrow size distribution (mean diameter: ~30 nm), and are well dispersed. The as‐prepared NP s are highly crystalline and consist of MgAl 2 O 4 with small amounts of the secondary phases MgO (~10 mass%) and Eu 2 O 3 (