Provided is a core/multishell tetragonal upconversion nanophosphor capable of being excited by near-infrared (NIR) light having wavelengths of 800±20 nm, 980±20 nm, and 1532±20 nm to emit light of blue, green, red, and combinations thereof.

Halide-based scintillator materials, and related systems and methods are generally described. In some embodiments, the scintillator materials are thallium-based and/or have a perovskite structure. Specific embodiments of thallium calcium halides and thallium magnesium halides with desirable scintillation properties are provided.

The present invention relates to scintillator compositions and related devices and methods. The scintillator compositions may include, for example, a scintillation compound and a dopant, the scintillation compound having the formula x.sub.1-x.sub.2-x.sub.3-x.sub.4 and x.sub.1 is Cs; x.sub.2 is Na; x.sub.3 is La, Gd, or Lu; and x.sub.4 is Br or I. In certain embodiments, the scintillator composition can include a single dopant or mixture of dopants.

A scintillation crystal can include Ln.sub.(1-y)RE.sub.yX.sub.3, wherein Ln represents a rare earth element, RE represents a different rare earth element, y has a value in a range of 0 to 1, and X represents a halogen. In an embodiment, RE is Ce, and the scintillation crystal is doped with Sr, Ba, or a mixture thereof at a concentration of at least approximately 0.0002 wt. %. In another embodiment, the scintillation crystal can have unexpectedly improved linearity and unexpectedly improved energy resolution properties. In a further embodiment, a radiation detection system can include the scintillation crystal, a photosensor, and an electronics device. Such a radiation detection system can be useful in a variety of radiation imaging applications.

A nanophosphor in accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure includes a fluoride-based nanoparticle co-doped with Ce.sup.3+ and one selected from a group consisting of Tb.sup.3+, Eu.sup.3+ and a combination thereof. The nanophosphor may be excited by a single wavelength of ultraviolet rays to emit various colors of green, yellow, orange, red and the like, and exhibit high photostability without photoblinking. The nanophosphor may be utilized as a bio imaging contrast agent, a transparent display device, an anti-counterfeit code and the like.

Provided is a fluoride nanophosphor using, as cores, luminescent nanoparticles expressed by Chemical Formula 1.
LiEr.sub.1-x-yL.sub.yF.sub.4:Tm.sup.3+.sub.x  [Chemical Formula 1] (In Chemical Formula 1, x is a real number satisfying 0≤x≤0.3, y is a real number satisfying 0≤y≤0.8 and is selected within a range satisfying 0≤x+y≤0.9, and L is any one selected from the group consisting of yttrium (Y), lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), ytterbium (Yb), lutetium (Lu), and a combination thereof.)

Scintillator materials, as well as related systems, and methods of detection using the same, are described herein. The scintillator material composition may comprise a Tl-based scintillator material. For example, the composition may comprise a thallium-based halide. Such materials have been shown to have particularly attractive scintillation properties and may be used in a variety of applications for detection radiation.

Hydrogel microparticles spatially and spectrally encoded using upconverting phosphor nanoparticles are described for use in biochemical testing. In each microparticle, upconversion nanocrystals having spectrally distinguishable emission spectra are disposed in different partions of an encoding region of the microparticle.

A system, device and/or method for multiplex assays. In a particular, but non-limiting, example there is provided a multiplex array, such as a suspension array. Luminescence decay lifetimes are utilized for probes in a suspension array, and coding/decoding the codes from time-resolved spectra. Lifetime populations can be generated at distinct color bands. A novel temporal technique or dimension is applied over conventional spectral and intensity combinations, thereby expanding the multiplexing capacity of a suspension array. In one example form, the multiplexing capacity of a suspension array can be expanded to the order of about 5.sup.8. This provides a reliable, high-throughput and relatively inexpensive solution for multiplex assays in various areas of application such as life sciences, data storage and security.

Monodisperse particles having: a single pure crystalline phase of a rare earth-containing lattice, a uniform three-dimensional size, and a uniform polyhedral morphology are disclosed. Due to their uniform size and shape, the monodisperse particles self assemble into superlattices. The particles may be luminescent particles such as down-converting phosphor particles and up-converting phosphors. The monodisperse particles of the invention have a rare earth-containing lattice which in one embodiment may be an yttrium-containing lattice or in another may be a lanthanide-containing lattice. The monodisperse particles may have different optical properties based on their composition, their size, and/or their morphology (or shape). Also disclosed is a combination of at least two types of monodisperse particles, where each type is a plurality of monodisperse particles having a single pure crystalline phase of a rare earth-containing lattice, a uniform three-dimensional size, and a uniform polyhedral morphology; and where the types of monodisperse particles differ from one another by composition, by size, or by morphology. In a preferred embodiment, the types of monodisperse particles have the same composition but different morphologies. Methods of making and methods of using the monodisperse particles are disclosed.