Lanthanide‐Based Thermometers: At the Cutting‐Edge of Luminescence Thermometry

• Published in: Advanced optical materials Vol. 7; no. 5
• Main Authors: Brites, Carlos D. S., Balabhadra, Sangeetha, Carlos, Luís D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 05-03-2019
• Subjects: Cutting; Emission; Fluidics; lanthanide ions; Luminescence; luminescence thermometry; Materials science; Microfluidics; Nanoelectronics; Nanofluids; nanothermometers; Optics; Photonics; Spatial resolution; temperature detection; Thermal imaging; Thermometers; Thermometry
• ISSN: 2195-1071; 2195-1071
• DOI: 10.1002/adom.201801239

Present technological demands in disparate areas, such as microfluidics and nanofluidics, microelectronics and nanoelectronics, photonics and biomedicine, among others, have reached to a development such that conventional contact thermal probes are not accomplished anymore to perform accurate measurements with submicrometric spatial resolution. The development of novel noncontact thermal probes is, then, mandatory, contributing to an expansionary epoch of luminescence thermometry. Luminescence thermometry based on trivalent lanthanide ions has become very popular since 2010 due to the unique versatility, stability, and narrow emission band profiles of the ions that cover the entire electromagnetic spectrum with relatively high emission quantum yields. Here, a perspective overview on the field is given from the beginnings in the 1950s until the most recent cutting‐edge examples. The current movement toward usage of the technique as a new tool for thermal imaging, early tumor detection, and as a tool for unveiling the properties of the thermometers themselves or of their local neighborhoods is also summarized.
The field of luminescent thermometers based on lanthanide‐bearing materials is reviewed, from the first developments of the field in the 1950s–1960s until the most recent cutting‐edge examples. The main concepts, ideas, and grand challenges are discussed, including the current movement toward the use of luminescent thermometry as a tool in bioimaging and for nanoscale probing.