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Low threshold lasing emissions from a single upconversion nanocrystal

Cross-relaxation among neighboring emitters normally causes self-quenching and limits the brightness of luminescence. However, in nanomaterials, cross-relaxation could be well-controlled and employed for increasing the luminescence efficiency at specific wavelengths. Here we report that cross-relaxa...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Shang, Yunfei, Zhou, Jiajia, Cai, Yangjian, Wang, Fan, Fernandez-Bravo, Angel, Yang, Chunhui, Jiang, Lei, Jin, Dayong
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7708641/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33262336
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19797-4
Descripción
Sumario:Cross-relaxation among neighboring emitters normally causes self-quenching and limits the brightness of luminescence. However, in nanomaterials, cross-relaxation could be well-controlled and employed for increasing the luminescence efficiency at specific wavelengths. Here we report that cross-relaxation can modulate both the brightness of single upconversion nanoparticles and the threshold to reach population inversion, and both are critical factors in producing the ultra-low threshold lasing emissions in a micro cavity laser. By homogenously coating a 5-μm cavity with a single layer of nanoparticles, we demonstrate that doping Tm(3+) ions at 2% can facilitate the electron accumulation at the intermediate state of (3)H(4) level and efficiently decrease the lasing threshold by more than one order of magnitude. As a result, we demonstrate up-converted lasing emissions with an ultralow threshold of continuous-wave excitation of ~150 W/cm(2) achieved at room temperature. A single nanoparticle can lase with a full width at half-maximum as narrow as ~0.45 nm.