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NIR II-responsive photon upconversion through energy migration in an ytterbium sublattice

Nature Photonics volume 14, pages 760–766 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Smart control of photon upconversion is a key strategy for lanthanide-based materials used in biological and photonic applications. However, this has remained a challenge for the upconversion luminescence of lanthanides under excitation in the second near-infrared (NIR II) biowindow instead of at the conventional 980 and 808 nm wavelengths. Here, we report a conceptual design for an energy-migratory ytterbium sublattice in an erbium-sensitized multilayer core–shell nanostructure that is able to achieve photon upconversion from a broad range of lanthanide ions (Yb3+, Tm3+, Ho3+, Gd3+, Eu3+ and Tb3+) under 1,530 nm irradiation. The quasi-single-band upconversion in the first near-infrared (NIR I) biowindow is also realized through fine manipulation of the introduced cross-relaxations. By establishing an interfacial energy-transfer-mediated nanostructure, we also gain a deep insight into the mechanistic features of the energy migration. These results open new opportunities in a variety of frontier applications, such as information security.

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Fig. 1: NIR II-responsive photon upconversion through energy migration in an Yb sublattice.
Fig. 2: Sample designs, characterization and upconversion emissions.
Fig. 3: Mechanistic investigation of energy migration in the Yb sublattice.
Fig. 4: Tuning photon upconversion through Ce3+-mediated cross-relaxation.
Fig. 5: Colour-switchable output and its application.

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Data availability

The data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 51972119, 51702101 and 51472088), the Local Innovative and Research Teams Project of Guangdong Pearl River Talents Program (2017BT01X137), the Young Top-notch Talents of Guangdong Pearl River Talents Program (2017GC010278) and the One-Hundred Young Talents Program of Guangdong University of Technology (220413145).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Fiber Laser Materials and Applied Techniques, and Guangdong Engineering Technology Research and Development Center of Special Optical Fiber Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China

    Bo Zhou, Long Yan, Jinshu Huang, Xuelong Liu & Qinyuan Zhang

  2. School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China

    Lili Tao

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  1. Bo Zhou
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  2. Long Yan
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  6. Qinyuan Zhang
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Contributions

B.Z. and Q.Z. conceived and supervised the project. B.Z. designed the experiment. L.Y. synthesized the samples with the help of J.H. and X.L. L.Y., J.H., X.L., L.T. and B.Z. performed the characterization and optical measurements. B.Z. and Q.Z. wrote the manuscript, with input from all authors.

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Correspondence to Bo Zhou or Qinyuan Zhang.

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Supplementary Figs. 1–39, Tables 1–4 and Methods.

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Zhou, B., Yan, L., Huang, J. et al. NIR II-responsive photon upconversion through energy migration in an ytterbium sublattice. Nat. Photonics 14, 760–766 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-020-00714-6

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