NIR emission of lanthanides for ultrasensitive luminescence manometry-Er3+-activated optical sensor of high pressure.

Pressure is an important physical parameter, hence its monitoring is very important for different industrial and scientific applications. Although the commonly used luminescent pressure sensors (ruby – Al2O3:Cr3+ and SrB4O7:Sm2+) allow optical monitoring of pressure in the compressed systems (usually in a diamond anvil cell – DAC), their detection resolution is limited with sensitivity, i.e., pressure response in a form of the detected spectral shift. Here we report, the breakthrough in optical pressure sensing, by developing an ultra-sensitive NIR pressure sensor (dλ/dP = 1.766 nm/GPa). This luminescent manometer is based on the optically active YVO4:Yb3+-Er3+ phosphor material, exhibiting the largest spectral shift as a function of pressure, compared to other luminescent pressure gauges reported elsewhere. Additionally, thanks to the locations of excitation and emission in the NIR range, the developed optical manometer allows high-pressure measurements (without spectral overlapping/interferences) of various luminescent organic and inorganic materials, which are typically excited and can emit in the UV-vis spectral ranges.