Confining energy migration in upconversion nanoparticles towards deep ultraviolet lasing.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 26739352.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms10304 and PMC identifier 4729831.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Manipulating particle size is a powerful means of creating unprecedented optical properties in metals and semiconductors. Here we report an insulator system composed of NaYbF4:Tm in which size effect can be harnessed to enhance multiphoton upconversion. Our mechanistic investigations suggest that the phenomenon stems from spatial confinement of energy migration in nanosized structures. We show that confining energy migration constitutes a general and versatile strategy to manipulating multiphoton upconversion, demonstrating an efficient five-photon upconversion emission of Tm(3+) in a stoichiometric Yb lattice without suffering from concentration quenching. The high emission intensity is unambiguously substantiated by realizing room-temperature lasing emission at around 311 nm after 980-nm pumping, recording an optical gain two orders of magnitude larger than that of a conventional Yb/Tm-based system operating at 650 nm. Our findings thus highlight the viability of realizing diode-pumped lasing in deep ultraviolet regime for various practical applications.