Near-Infrared Luminescent Hybrid Materials Doped with Lanthanide (Ln) Complexes (Ln = Nd, Yb) and Their Possible Laser Application

The crystal structures of ternary Ln(DBM)3phen complexes (DBM = dibenzoylmethane, phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, and Ln = Nd, Yb) and their in situ syntheses via the sol−gel process are reported. The properties of the Ln(DBM)3phen complexes and their corresponding Ln3+/DBM/phen-co-doped luminescent hybrid gels obtained via an in situ method (Ln−D−P gel) have been studied. The results reveal that the lanthanide complexes are successfully in situ synthesized in the corresponding Ln−D−P gels. Both Ln(DBM)3phen complexes and Ln−D−P gels display sensitized near-infrared (NIR) luminescence upon excitation at the maximum absorption of the ligands, which contributes to the efficient energy transfer from the ligands to the Ln3+ ions (Ln = Nd, Yb), an antenna effect. The radiative properties of the Nd3+ ion in a Nd−D−P gel are discussed using Judd−Ofelt analysis, which indicates that the 4F3/2 → 4I11/2 transition of the Nd3+ ion in the Nd−D−P gel can be considered as a possible laser transition.