TY - JOUR A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Grauel, Bettina A1 - Pons, Monika A1 - Frenzel, Florian A1 - Rissiek, P. A1 - Rücker, Kerstin A1 - Haase, Markus A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Yb- and Er concentration dependence of the upconversion luminescence of highly doped NaYF4:Yb,Er/NaYF4:Lu core/shell nanocrystals prepared by a water-free synthesis N2 - High sensitizer and activator concentrations have been increasingly examined to improve the performance of multi-color emissive upconversion (UC) nanocrystals (UCNC) like NaYF4:Yb,Er and first strategies were reported to reduce concentration quenching in highly doped UCNC. UC luminescence (UCL) is, however, controlled not only by dopant concentration, yet by an interplay of different parameters including size, crystal and shell quality, and excitation power density (P). Thus, identifying optimum dopant concentrations requires systematic studies of UCNC designed to minimize additional quenching pathways and quantitative spectroscopy. Here, we quantify the dopant concentration dependence of the UCL quantum yield (ΦUC) of solid NaYF4:Yb,Er/NaYF4:Lu upconversion core/shell nanocrystals of varying Yb3+ and Er3+ concentrations (Yb3+ series: 20%‒98% Yb3+; 2% Er3+; Er3+ series: 60% Yb3+; 2%‒40% Er3+). To circumvent other luminescence quenching processes, an elaborate synthesis yielding OH-free UCNC with record ΦUC of ~9% and ~25 nm core particles with a thick surface shell were used. High Yb3+ concentrations barely reduce ΦUC from ~9% (20% Yb3+) to ~7% (98% Yb3+) for an Er3+ concentration of 2%, thereby allowing to strongly increase the particle absorption cross section and UCNC brightness. Although an increased Er3+ concentration reduces ΦUC from ~7% (2% Er3+) to 1% (40%) for 60% Yb3+. Nevertheless, at very high P (> 1 MW/cm2) used for microscopic studies, highly Er3+-doped UCNC display a high brightness because of reduced saturation. These findings underline the importance of synthesis control and will pave the road to many fundamental studies of UC materials. KW - Upconverion KW - Nanoparticle KW - Lanthanides KW - Quantum yield PY - 2022 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-551346 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Springer AN - OPUS4-55134 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wiesholler, L. M. A1 - Frenzel, Florian A1 - Grauel, Bettina A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Hirsch, T. ED - Resch-Genger, Ute ED - Hirsch, Thomas T1 - Yb,Nd,Er-doped upconversion nanoparticles: 980 nm versus 808 nm excitation N2 - Yb,Nd,Er-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have attracted considerable interest as luminescent reporters for bioimaging, sensing, energy conversion/shaping, and anticounterfeiting due to their capability to convert multiple near-infrared (NIR) photons into shorter wavelength ultraviolet, visible or NIR luminescence by successive absorption of two or more NIR photons. This enables optical measurements in complex media with very little background and high penetration depths for bioimaging. The use of Nd3+ as substitute for the commonly employed sensitizer Yb3+ or in combination with Yb3+ shifts the excitation wavelength from about 980 nm, where the absorption of water can weaken upconversion luminescence, to about 800 nm, and laser-induced local overheating effects in cells, tissue, and live animal studies can be minimized. To systematically investigate the potential of Nd3+ doping, we assessed the performance of a set of similarly sized Yb3+,Nd3+,Er3+-doped core- and core–shell UCNPs of different particle architecture in water at broadly varied excitation power densities (P) with steady state and time-resolved fluorometry for excitation at 980 nm and 808 nm. As a measure for UCNPs performance, the P-dependent upconversion quantum yield (Φ) and its saturation behavior were used as well as particle brightness (B). Based upon spectroscopic measurements at both excitation wavelengths in water and in a lipid phantom and B-based calculations of signal size at different penetration depths, conditions under which excitation at 808 nm is advantageous are derived and parameters for the further optimization of triple-doped UCNPs are given. KW - Lanthanide KW - Upconversion KW - Nanoparticle KW - Photoluminescence KW - Quantum yield KW - Lifetime KW - Brightness KW - Nd excitation KW - Excitation power density KW - Modelling KW - NIR PY - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1039/C9NR03127H SN - 2040-3372 SN - 2040-3364 VL - 11 IS - 28 SP - 13440 EP - 13449 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - London AN - OPUS4-48608 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tietze, R. A1 - Panzer, R. A1 - Starzynski, T. A1 - Guhrenz, C. A1 - Frenzel, Florian A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Weigand, Jan J. A1 - Eychmüller, A. T1 - Synthesis of NIR-emitting InAs-based core/shell quantum dots with the use of tripyrazolylarsane as arsenic precursor N2 - Tris(3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl)arsane (1) is introduced as a low-cost and convenient to handle arsenic precursor for the straight Forward synthesis of InAs Quantum dots (QDs). Transamination of 1 with the solvent oleylamine (OLAH) gives trioleylarsane (As(OLA)3) which in the presence of the reducing agents diisobutylaluminum hydride (DIBAL-H) or trioleylphosphane (P(OLA)3) yields InAs QDs via a typical hot injection approach. The size of the obtained InAs core QDs are tuned by varying the reaction time, the amount of the applied reducing agent, or even more effectively by changing the Indium and/or zinc halide precursors, InX3, and ZnX2 (Cl, Br, or I). Passivation of the resulting InAs particles with a protective ZnS or ZnSe shell results in improved photoluminescence of the core/shell QDs covering a spectral range between 600 and 1150 nm. KW - Quantum dot KW - NIR KW - Near infrared PY - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/ppsc.201800175 SN - 0934-0866 SN - 1521-4117 VL - 35 IS - 9 SP - 1800175, 1 EP - 7 PB - Wiley AN - OPUS4-46076 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Frenzel, Florian T1 - Spectroscopic study of plasmon enhanced upconversion nanoparticles N2 - The presentation gave an overview of the topic, the aims and the task allocation of the M-ERA.NET founded project named “Nanohype”. In this project four research teams working hand in hand on computational modeling, synthesis and experimental validation to design novel metal-shelled Upconversion-NP combining plasmonic interactions. As Ph.D. student at the BAM I am responsible for the optical characterization (measurements of lifetimes, Quantum Yields and PL emissions ) of these promising novel systems. T2 - SpringSchool, UpCon2016 CY - Wrocław (Breslau), Polen DA - 25.05.2016 KW - Field Enhancement KW - Upconversion KW - Core-Shell KW - FRET KW - Plasmonic PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-37225 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Frenzel, Florian T1 - Spectroscopic study of plasmon enhanced UPCON luminescence of silica-metal core-shell nanocomposites - status report N2 - The presentation focuses on the current state of the optical spectroscopic studies on plasmon enhanced upconversion luminescent processes of silica-metal core-shell nanocomposites. A general introduction of the upconversion process, the theoretical basis of plasmonic enhancement, the theoretical requirements in regard to NP architecture for plasmon enhanced UC will be outlined. The first proof-of-concept measurements show the difficulty in realization the theoretical measurement parameters in laboratory conditions and underline the need for shifting the experiments to single particle level.“ T2 - Gruppenseminar der Nanooptik an der HU Berlin, Prof. Benson, Institut für Physik, Raum 1‘404 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 09.05.2017 KW - Upconversion KW - Pplasmon enhancement KW - Core-shell nanoparticles KW - Silca-metal nanoparticles PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-50698 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Saleh, Maysoon I. A1 - Panas, I. A1 - Frenzel, Florian A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Rühle, Bastian A1 - Slominskii, Y. A1 - Demchenko, A. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Sensitization of upconverting nanoparticles with a NIR-emissive cyanine dye using a micellar encapsulation approach N2 - Photon upconversion nanomaterials have a wide range of applications, including biosensing and deep-tissue imaging. Their typically very weak and narrow absorption bands together with their size dependent luminescence efficiency can limit their application potential. This has been addressed by increasingly sophisticated core-shell particle architectures including the sensitization with organic dyes that strongly absorb in the near infrared (NIR). In this work, we present a simple water-dispersible micellar system that features energy transfer from the novel NIR excitable dye, 1859 SL with a high molar absorption coefficient and a moderate fluorescence quantum yield to oleate-capped NaYF4:20%Yb(III), 2%Er(III) upconversion nanoparticles (UCNP) upon 808 nm excitation. The micelles were formed using the surfactants Pluronic F-127 and Tween 80 to produce a hydrophilic dye-UCNP system. Successful energy transfer from the dye to the UCNP could be confirmed by emission measurements that revealed the occurrence of upconversion emission upon excitation at 808 nm and an enhancement of the green Er(III) emission compared to direct Er(III) excitation at 808 nm. KW - Upconversion nanoparticles KW - Sensitization KW - NIR dyes KW - Energy transfer PY - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-472300 SN - 2050-6120 VL - 7 IS - 1 (Special issue: Upconversion Methods, Applications and Materials) SP - 014003-1 EP - 014003-9 PB - IOP AN - OPUS4-47230 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Frenzel, Florian A1 - Weigert, Florian A1 - Andresen, Elina A1 - Grauel, Bettina A1 - Wegner, Karl David T1 - Semiconductor (SCNC) & Upconversion Nanocrystals (UCNC) – Optical Properties, Applications & Challenges N2 - Inorganic nanocrystals with linear and nonlinear luminescence in the ultraviolet, visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared like semiconductor quantum dots and spectrally shifting lanthanide-based nanophosphors have meanwhile found applications in the life and material sciences ranging from optical reporters for bioimaging and sensing over security barcodes to solid state lighting and photovoltaics. These nanomaterials commonly have increasingly sophisticated core/shell particle architectures with shells of different chemical composition and thickness to minimize radiationless deactivation at the particle surface that is usually the main energy loss mechanism [1]. For lanthanide-based spectral shifters, particularly for very small nanoparticles, also surface coatings are needed which protect near-surface lanthanide ions from luminescence quenching by high energy vibrators like O-H groups and prevent the disintegration of these nanoparticles under high dilution conditions. [2,3,4]. The identification of optimum particle structures requires quantitative spectroscopic studies focusing on the key performance parameter photoluminescence quantum yield [5,6], ideally flanked by single particle studies to assess spectroscopic inhomogeneities on a particle-to-particle level for typical preparation methods [7], Moreover, in the case of upconversion nanoparticles with a multi-photonic and hence, excitation power density (P)-dependent luminescence, quantitative luminescence studies over a broad P range are required to identify particle architectures that are best suited for applications in fluorescence assays up to fluorescence microscopy. Here, we present methods to quantify the photoluminescence of these different types of emitters in the vis/NIR/SWIR and as function of Pand demonstrate the importance of such measurements for a profound mechanistic understanding of the nonradiative deactivation pathways in semiconductor and upconversion nanocrystals of different size and particle architecture in different environments. T2 - 27th Annual Meeting of the Slovenian Chemical Society CY - Portoroz-Portorose, Slovenia DA - 21.09.2021 KW - Nano KW - Nanomaterial KW - Upconversion nanoparticle KW - Lanthanide KW - Photoluminescence KW - Quantum yield KW - Photophysics KW - Lifetime KW - Surface chemistry KW - Single particle KW - Brightness KW - NIR KW - Synthesis KW - Semiconductur KW - Quantum dot KW - Nanocrystal KW - SWIR PY - 2021 AN - OPUS4-53723 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Frenzel, Florian A1 - Würth, Christian A1 - Muhr, V. A1 - Hirsch, T. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Power dependent optical properties of hexagonal β-NaYF4: x % Er3+, 20 % Yb3+ core/ core-shell upconversion nanoparticles in cyclohexane and water N2 - Lanthanide doped photon upconverting nanophosphors (UCNPs) have the unique capability to produce narrow band, multi-color emission in the UV/vis/NIR upon multiphotonic absorption of infrared light, which makes them promising reporters for diagnostic, bioanalytical, and biological applications. This minimizes background signals, which normally occur due to autofluorescence from auxochromes, in biological matrices and enables deep penetration depths in biological applications. Moreover, UCNPs show long luminescence lifetimes in the μs range favorable for time gated emission in conjunction with a high photostability and chemical inertness and they do not blink. One of the most efficient upconversion (UC) phosphors for conversion of 976 nm to 655 nm and 545 nm light presents the hexagonal NaYF4-host crystal doped with 20 % Yb3+ used as sensitizer to absorb infrared light and 2 % Er3+ acting as activator mainly responsible for light emission. The high transparency in the relevant spectral windows of this host together with its low phonon frequencies ensure relatively high luminescence efficiencies. Although UCNPs are ideal candidates for many chemical and biological sensing and imaging applications, compared to other well-known chromophores like organic dyes or QDs, they suffer from a comparatively low brightness due to the low absorption cross sections of the parity forbidden f-f-transitions and low photoluminescence quantum yields (QYUC) particularly in the case of small nanoparticles with sizes of < 50 nm. The rational design of more efficient UCNPs requires an improved understanding of the nonradiative decay pathways in these materials that are influenced by particle architecture including dopant ion concentration and homogeneity of dopant distribution within UCNPs, size/surface-to-volume ratio, surface chemistry, and microenvironment. A promising approach to overcome the low efficiency of UCNPs is to use plasmonic interactions between a noble metal (Ag or Au) structure in the proximity of UCNPs and the incident light. This interaction leads to a modification of the spectroscopic properties due to local field enhancements and can involve an increase of the photoluminescence. In this respect, we study the interactions of UCNPs with metal structures (clusters and shells) by varying shape and size. Here, first results derived from integrating sphere spectroscopy and time-resolved fluorescence measurements are presented. T2 - Summer School "EXCITING NANOSTRUCTURES" CY - Bad Honnef, Germany DA - 17.07.2017 KW - Upconversion KW - Nanoparticle KW - Flourescence KW - Core-shell architecture KW - NIR KW - Absolute flourometry KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy KW - Er(III) KW - Yb(III) KW - Single particle spectroscopy PY - 2017 AN - OPUS4-41172 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Pauli, J. A1 - Güttler, Arne A1 - Richter, Maria A1 - Fiedler, Saskia A1 - Frenzel, Florian A1 - Wegner, Karl-David A1 - Würth, Christian T1 - Photoluminescence Quantum Yields of Luminescent Nanocrystals and Particles in the UV/vis/NIR/SWIR N2 - The rational design of functional luminescent materials such as semiconductor quantum dots and lanthanide-based upconversion nanoparticles, all photophysical and mechanistic studies, and the comparison of different emitters require accurate and quantitative photoluminescence measurements. Particularly the reliable determination of the key performance parameter photoluminescence quantum yield (f), the number of emitted per absorbed photons, and the brightness are of special importance for luminescence applications in the life and material sciences and nano(bio)photonics.[1] In this context, examples for absolute measurements of the photoluminescence quantum yields of UV/vis/NIR/SWIR emissive semiconductor quantum dots and rods, made from different materials, and spectrally shifting lanthanide upconversion nanocrystals with different surface chemistries in transparent matrices are presented including excitation wavelength and power density dependent studies utilizing integration sphere spectroscopy.[2,3] In addition, procedures for the absolute determination of the photoluminescence quantum yields of scattering dispersions of larger size quantum rods and differently sized inorganic particles have been developed as well as procedures for the characterization of solid luminescent nanomaterials such as different perovskites and YAG:Cer converter materials.[4] Thereby, challenges and pitfalls of f measurements in different wavelength regions including the SWIR and material-specific effects related to certain emitter classes are addressed, achievable uncertainties are quantified, and relative and absolute measurements of photoluminescence quantum yield measurements are compared to underline limitations of the former approach. Finally, a set of novel UV/vis/NIR quantum yield standards is presented including their certification with a complete uncertainty budget.[5] T2 - NANAX 10 CY - Klosterneuburg, Austria DA - 03.07.2023 KW - Fluorescence KW - Optical spectroscopy KW - Reference data KW - Traceability KW - NIR KW - Scattering KW - Reference material KW - Certification KW - Quality assurance KW - Dye KW - Reference product KW - SWIR KW - Nano KW - Particle KW - Perovskite KW - Integrating sphere spectroscopy KW - Quantum yield PY - 2023 AN - OPUS4-58238 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Xu, R. A1 - Teich, W. A1 - Frenzel, Florian A1 - Hoffmann, Katrin A1 - Radke, J. A1 - Rösler, J. A1 - Faust, K. A1 - Blank, A. A1 - Brandenburg, S. A1 - Misch, M. A1 - Vajkoczy, P. A1 - Onken, J. S. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Optical characterization of sodium fluorescein in vitro and ex vivo N2 - Objective: The utilization of fluorescein-guided biopsies and resection has been recently discussed as a suitable strategy to improve and expedite operative techniques for the resection of central nervous system (CNS) tumors. However, little is known about the optical properties of sodium fluorescein (NaFl) in human tumor tissue and their potential impact on ex vivo analyses involving fluorescence-based methods. Methods: Tumor tissue was obtained from a study cohort of an observational study on the utilization of fluorescein-guided biopsy and resection (n=5). The optical properties of fluorescein-stained tissue were compared to the optical features of the dye in vitro and in control samples consisting of tumor tissue of high-grade glioma patients (n=3) without intravenous (i.v.) application of NaFl. The dye-exposed tumor tissues were used for optical measurements to confirm the detectability of NaFl emission ex vivo. The tissue samples were fixed in 4%PFA, immersed in 30% sucrose, embedded in Tissue-Tek OCT compound, and cut to 10 mm cryosections. Spatially resolved emission spectra from tumor samples were recorded on representative slides with a Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope FV1000 (Olympus GmbH, Hamburg, Germany) upon excitation with lexc = 488 nm. Results: Optical measurements of fluorescein in 0.9% sodium chloride (NaCl) under in vitro conditions showed an absorption maximum of lmax abs = 479 nm as detected with spectrophotometer Specord 200 and an emission peak at lmax em = 538 nm recorded with the emCCD detection system of a custom-made microscope-based single particle setup using a 500 nm long-pass filter. Further measurements revealed pH- and concentration-dependent emission spectra of NaFl. Under ex vivo conditions, confocal laser scanning microscopy of fluorescein tumor samples revealed a slight bathochromic shift and a broadening of the emission band. Conclusion: Tumor uptake of NaFl leads to changes in the optical properties – a bathochromic shift and broadening of the emission band – possibly caused by the dye’s high pH sensitivity and concentration-dependent reabsorption acting as an innerfilter of the dye’s emission, particularly in the short wavelength region of the Emission spectrum where absorption and fluorescence overlap. Understanding the ex vivo optical properties of fluorescein is crucial for testing and validating its further applicability as an optical probe for intravital microscopy, immunofluorescence localization studies, and flow cytometry analysis. KW - Fluorescence KW - Optical probe KW - Sensor KW - Fluorescein KW - PH KW - Imaging KW - Tissue KW - Cancer KW - Medical diagnostics KW - Tumor KW - In vivo KW - Ex vivo KW - Quantum yield KW - Dye KW - Quality assurance KW - Microscopy PY - 2021 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-527843 SN - 2234-943X VL - 11 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne AN - OPUS4-52784 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -