Dramatic increases in the lifetime of the Er3+ ion in a molecular complex using a perfluorinated imidodiphosphinate sensitizing ligand

Gaetano Mancino; Andrew J Ferguson; Andrew Beeby; Nicholas J Long; Tim S Jones

doi:10.1021/ja0441864

Dramatic increases in the lifetime of the Er3+ ion in a molecular complex using a perfluorinated imidodiphosphinate sensitizing ligand

J Am Chem Soc. 2005 Jan 19;127(2):524-5. doi: 10.1021/ja0441864.

Authors

Gaetano Mancino¹, Andrew J Ferguson, Andrew Beeby, Nicholas J Long, Tim S Jones

Affiliation

¹ Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.

PMID: 15643867
DOI: 10.1021/ja0441864

Abstract

Dramatic increases in the luminescent lifetime of the Er3+ ion in a molecular complex have been observed by chelating the rare-earth ion with a perfluorinated imidodiphosphinate sensitizing ligand, F-tpip. For solution, powder, and evaporated thin films of Er(F-tpip)3, the average lifetimes of the 1530 nm emission band range between 150 and 220 mus, corresponding to a maximum 50-fold increase relative to the nonfluorinated analogue, Er(tpip)3. These are the longest reported lifetimes for the Er3+ ion in a simple organic chelate. These remarkable improvements in luminescence efficiency and excited-state lifetime represent a significant step forward in the design and fabrication of near-infrared (NIR)-emitting molecular devices for communications, sensing, and analytical detection.