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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.
Despite considerable advances in synthesizing high-quality core/shell upconversion (UC) nanocrystals (NC; UCNC) and UCNC photophysics, the application of near-infrared (NIR)-excitable lanthanide-doped UCNC in the life and material sciences is still hampered by the relatively low upconversion luminescence (UCL) of UCNC of small size or thin protecting shell. To obtain deeper insights into energy transfer and surface quenching processes involving Yb3+ and Er3+ ions, we examined energy loss processes in differently sized solid core NaYF4 nanocrystals doped with either Yb3+ (YbNC; 20% Yb3+) or Er3+ (ErNC; 2% Er3+) and co-doped with Yb3+ and Er3+ (YbErNC; 20% Yb3+ and 2% Er3+) without a surface protection shell and coated with a thin and a thick NaYF4 shell in comparison to single and co-doped bulk materials. Luminescence studies at 375 nm excitation demonstrate backenergy transfer (BET) from the 4G11/2 state of Er3+ to the 2F5/2 state of Yb3+, through which the red Er3+ 4F9/2 state is efficiently populated. Excitation power density (P)-dependent steady state and time-resolved photoluminescence measurements at different excitation and emission wavelengths enable to separate surface-related and volume-related effects for two-photonic and threephotonic processes involved in UCL and indicate a different influence of surface passivation on the green and red Er3+ emission.
The intensity and lifetime of the latter respond particularly to an increase in volume of the active UCNC core. We provide a threedimensional random walk model to describe these effects that can be used in the future to predict the UCL behavior of UCNC.
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.