Of Photons, Temperature, and Algorithms

Harnessing the photophysics of lanthanide ions for luminescence thermometry is now a well-established approach. Its maturity rests on several pillars: a deep understanding of lanthanide electronic structure, a comprehensive theoretical framework describing its temperature dependence, the sustained exploration of diverse lanthanide-based materials, and, more recently, the introduction of advanced data-analysis algorithms. Together, these advances have enabled luminescence thermometry to monitor temperature in cells, quantify Brownian motion, and detect temperature variations during catalytic reactions.

In this talk, we will highlight contributions our group has made to the field using lanthanide coordination complexes and lanthanide-doped nanoparticles. These span the introduction of luminescence thermometry into single-molecule magnets, temperature measurements at the single-particle level, and multiparametric sensing enhanced by machine-learning tools. One family of elements, many different faces, and one powerful capability: reporting temperature changes across a remarkable variety of environments with excellent sensitivity and versatility.