Eu(3+) as a Powerful Structural and Spectroscopic Tool for Glass Photonics †

The unique properties of the Eu(3+) ion make it a powerful spectroscopic tool to investigate structure or follow processes and mechanisms in several high-tech application areas such as biology and health, structural engineering, environment monitoring systems and quantum technology, mainly concerning photonics. The traditional method is to exploit the unique photoluminescent properties of Eu(3+) ions to understand complex dynamical processes and obtain information useful to develop materials with specific characteristics. The objective of this review is to focus on the use of Eu(3+) optical spectroscopy in some condensed matter issues. After a short presentation of the more significant properties of the Eu(3+) ion, some examples regarding its use as a probe of the local structure in sol–gel systems are presented. Another section is devoted to dynamical processes such as the important technological role of nanocrystals as rare-earth sensitizers. The appealing effect of the site-selection memory, observed when exciting different sites into the (5)D(1) state, which the (5)D(0) → (7)F(0) emission band reflects following the sites’ distribution, is also mentioned. Finally, a section is devoted to the use of Eu(3+) in the development of a rare-earth-based platform for quantum technologies.