Blue-emitting single band ratiometric luminescent thermometry based on LaF3:Pr3+

Abstract

In accordance with the growing popularity of luminescence thermometry in the single-band-ratiometric approach configuration, we developed the first blue-emitting case based on LaF₃:Pr³⁺. By using excitations matched to ground- and excited-state absorption, strong thermally activated quenching and enhancement of the band associated with the ³P₀ → ³H₄ electronic transition were obtained, respectively. Due to the differences in the thermal dependences of the luminescence intensity signals for different Pr³⁺ concentrations being controlled by the thermally activated cross-relaxation depopulation process, independencies of the calibration curves for the Pr³⁺ content were obtained. Concentration-independent high relative sensitivities of the temperature reading, reaching even 5–6% K⁻¹ with 0.5 K temperature determination uncertainty, confirm the high applicative potential of the developed blue-emitting Pr³⁺ ion-based luminescent thermometer.