Designing multi-mode optical thermometers via Sb3+/Er3+ co-doped Cs2NaInCl6 lead-free double perovskite microcrystals

Abstract

Contactless optical thermometers are widely studied in scientific research and technology because of their apparent advantages. The combination of multi-mode thermometric techniques can realize self-referenced temperature sensing, making temperature monitoring signals more accurate. Herein, a series of Cs2NaInCl6: Sb3+, Er3+ microcrystals (MCs) were prepared via the ligand-assisted reprecipitation method. Under 320 nm excitation, the energy transfer from the self-trapped excitons (STEs) to Er3+ is established, which leads to the blue emission of STEs and intrinsic emissions of Er3+. Additionally, the MCs can also produce up-conversion green emissions under the excitation of NIR laser. Based on this, a multi-mode thermometer is developed, including the luminescence intensity ratio of two thermally coupled levels of Er3+ (2H11/2/4S3/2), the luminescence intensity ratio of a non-thermally coupled system of STEs and Er3+(4S3/2), and fluorescence lifetime of Er3+(4S3/2). Moreover, the MCs exhibit thermochromic properties, the luminescent color changes from blue to green as the temperature increases. To monitor the temperature more objectively by color variation, a novel sensing mode is constructed via the relationship between chromatic coordinates and temperature. The favorable thermometry performances for four-mode temperature sensing reveal that Cs2NaInCl6: Sb3+/Er3+ MCs are good candidates for thermometric materials for the novel multi-mode design.