Lanthanide Ion Doped Upconverting Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Structure and Properties

Lanthanide doped upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) have emerged as a new class of luminescent materials, with major discoveries and overall significant progress during the last decade. Unlike multiphoton absorption in organic dyes or semiconductor quantum dots, lanthanide doped UCNPs involve real intermediate quantum states and convert infrared (IR) into visible light via sequential electronic excitation. The relatively high efficiency of this process even at low radiation flux makes UCNPs particularly attractive for many current and emerging areas of technology. The aim of this article is to highlight several recent advances in this rapidly growing field, emphasizing the relationships between structure and properties of UCNPs. Additionally, various strategies developed for the synthesis of UCNPs with a focus on the various synthetic approaches that yield high-quality monodisperse samples with controlled size, shape and crystalline phase are reviewed. Emerging synthetic approaches towards designed structure to improve the optical and electronic properties of UCNPs are discussed. Finally, recent examples of applications of UCNPs in biomedical and optoelectronics research, giving our own perspectives on future directions and emerging possibilities of the field are described.