Double NIR laser stimulation and enhancing the thermal sensitivity of Er3+/Tm3+/Nd3+ doped multilayer core–shell nanoparticles

Non-contact thermal sensors are important devices to study cellular processes and monitor temperature in vivo. Herein, a novel highly sensitive nanothermometer based on NaYF4:Yb,Er@ NaYF4@NaYF4:Yb,Tm@ NaYF4:Nd (denoted as Er@Y@Tm@Nd) was prepared by a facile solvothermal method. When excited by the near-infrared (NIR) light of 808 and 980 nm, the as-prepared Er@Y@Tm@Nd nanoparticles could emit both blue and green light, respectively, since the lanthanide cations responsible for these emissions are gathered inside this nanostructure. The green and blue light intensity ratio exhibits obvious temperature dependence in the range of the physiological temperature. Additionally, the fluorescence intensity of Er3+ and Tm3+ are also greatly enhanced due to the multilayer structure that implies avoiding the Er3+ and Tm3+ energy cross-relaxation by introduction of a NaYF4 wall between them. The as-prepared core-shell-shell-shell structure with Er3+ and Tm3+ in different layers improves dozens of times of the thermal sensitivity based on the non-thermal coupling levels of the probe: the maximum values for the sensitivity are 2.95% K-1 (I Er-521/I Tm-450) and 6.30% K-1 (I Tm-474/I Er-541) when excited by 980 and 808 nm laser sources, respectively. These values are well above those previously reported (<0.7% K-1), indicating that the prepared nanostructures are temperature sensors with excellent thermal sensitivity and sensitive to NIR wavelength excitation that makes them highly preferred for thermal detection.