800 nm laser induced white light upconversion of Nd/Yb/Pr triply doped NaYF4 through a dual-sensitization strategy

To date, the white light lanthanide upconvertion consisting of RGB components usually originated from more than one type of emitter. Alternatively, Pr³⁺ is a fascinating lanthanide ion featuring multiple visible emission bands, including RGB components that in principle enable Pr³⁺ to emit white light. In this paper, we report, for the first time to our knowledge, white light upconversion through dual sensitization routes in Nd/Yb/Pr triply doped NaYF₄ microrods upon 800 nm excitation. It is found that the dual sensitization is more efficient than single sensitization for Pr³⁺ upconversion. In addition, the temperature sensing behaviors of the proposed triply doped microrods are comparatively investigated using different emission bands. This work presents a novel white light emitting material upon 800 nm excitation, and further demonstrates the feasibility of multichannel thermometry using the proposed material.