Understanding Emerging Photon Avalanching Processes in Lanthanide-Based Nanomaterials

With support from the Macromolecular, Supramolecular, and Nanochemistry (MSN) program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor P. James Schuck of Columbia University is studying the photon avalanching behavior in lanthanide-based nanoparticles. When nanoparticles absorb light of one color, they often emit light of another color, in a process known as photoluminescence. In most cases, the intensity of the photoluminescence scales with the intensity of the exciting light. Double the light and photoluminescence is twice as bright. However, that is not always the case. Sometimes the absorption of light can make a nanoparticle more likely to absorb more light. In these cases, the brightness of the photoluminescence would more than double when the intensity of the exciting light doubles. This property is known as photon avalanching, and it could be used in a variety of emerging applications. However, there are only a few examples of substances that exhibit photon avalanching behavior and much remains to be learned about this unusual property. Professor Schuck and his students will use a combined experimental and theoretical approach to unlock fundamental insights about what controls the photon avalanching in these unique nanostructures. Their discoveries could impact technologies ranging from efficient upconverting lasers and image processing to infrared quantum counting, solid-state lighting and broadband photonics, all of which rely on rapid and energy efficient light-material interactions. The project will also promote STEM education, engaging graduate, undergraduate, and underrepresented high school students through research and teaching activities highlighting non-traditional links between chemistry and engineering disciplines.This project aims to fundamentally understand and develop new avalanching nanoparticles through a synergistic effort that combines advanced characterization, theoretical modeling, precision synthesis and hierarchical nanoparticle design. Avalanching nanoparticles will be investigated using single-particle imaging and optical spectroscopy approaches, revealing critical mechanistic parameters and essential links that define, and ultimately limit, the photon avalanching response in this new class of materials. In addition, improved models of photon avalanching in nanoparticles will be developed, enabling the quantitative derivation of the roles of distinct energy transfer (ET) processes and recombination pathways – and the prediction of nanochemistry-dependent avalanching properties – when combined with our experimental measurements. The research is expected to establish foundational science and strategies for jump-starting the field of photon avalanching nanostructures, with potential for ultrasensitive imaging, light harvesting, and compact quantum photonics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.