Enhancing multiphoton upconversion emissions through confined energy migration in lanthanide-doped Cs2NaYF6 nanoplatelets.

Abstract

Lanthanide (Ln3+)-doped upconversion (UC) nanocrystals have drawn tremendous attention because of their intriguing optical properties. Currently, it is highly desired but remains challenging to achieve efficient multiphoton UC emissions. Herein, we report the controlled synthesis of a new class of UC nanocrystals based on Cs2NaYF6:Yb/Tm nanoplatelets (NPs), which can effectively convert the 980 nm light to five-photon and four-photon UC emissions of Tm3+ without the fabrication of a complicated core/multishell structure required in traditional nanocrystals. Particularly, the as-prepared Cs2NaYF6:Yb/Tm NPs exhibit a maximal UV-to-NIR emission intensity ratio of 1.2, which is the highest among Tm3+-doped core-only UC nanocrystals. We reveal that the enhanced multiphoton UC emissions may benefit from the confined energy migration of Ln3+ dopants in the unique two-dimensional-like structure of Cs2NaYF6 NPs. As such, intense red and green UC emissions of Eu3+ and Tb3+ can further be generated via the cascade sensitization of Tm3+ and Gd3+ in Cs2NaYF6:Yb/Tm/Gd/Eu and Cs2NaYF6:Yb/Tm/Gd/Tb NPs, respectively. These results validate the superiority of Cs2NaYF6 for the future design of efficient UC nanocrystals towards versatile applications.