Near-infrared photoluminescence of lanthanide-doped liquid crystals

The first near-infrared photoluminescent liquid-crystalline material has been made by doping the nematic liquid-crystalline matrix MBBA with the lanthanide(III) beta-diketonate complexes [Nd(dbm)(3)(phen)], [Er(dbm)(3)(phen)] and [Yb(dbm)(3)(phen)], respectively. The photo luminescence intensity of the ytterbium(III) sample increases by 100% when the isotropic phase is cooled to the nematic phase.status: publishe