Near infrared light emission quenching in organolanthanide complexes

We investigate the quenching of the near infrared light emission in Er 3 + complexes induced by the resonant dipolar interaction between the rare-earth ion and high frequency vibrations of the organic ligand. The nonradiative decay rate of the lanthanide ion is discussed in terms of a continuous medium approximation, which depends only on a few, easily accessible spectroscopic and structural data. The model accounts well for the available experimental results in Er 3 + complexes, and predicts an ∼ 100 % light emission quantum yield in fully halogenated systems.