Evidence for erbium-erbium energy migration in erbium(III) bis(perfluoro-p-tolyl)phosphinate

Photoluminescence lifetime measurements of the erbium decay in samples of erbium(III) bis(perfluoro-p-tolyl)phosphinate, Er[(p-CF3C6F4)2PO2]3, as a function of erbium concentration have been made. It has been found that for concentrations greater than 50%, the lifetime could be fitted with a stretched exponential function, which is indicative of erbium-erbium energy migration to quenching sites, most likely at the surface of the finely divided powder. At concentrations below 50%, the decay was single exponential with a maximum lifetime of ∼700μs.