Neodymium-Doped Gadolinium Compounds as Infrared Emitters for Multimodal Imaging
Maxime Delaey, Seppe Van Bogaert, Ewoud Cosaert, Wout Mommen, Dirk Poelman
Abstract
This study aims to investigate the optical properties of multiple neodymium-doped gadolinium compounds as a means to examine their eligibility as optical probes for fluorescence imaging. GdVO4, GdPO4, GdAlO3, Gd2SiO5 and Gd3Ga5O12 (GGG) samples were synthesized through solid-state reactions with varying neodymium doping levels to compare their optical properties in great detail. The optimal doping concentration was generally found to be approximately 2%. Furthermore, the luminescence lifetime, which is a valuable parameter for time-gated imaging, was determined to range from 276 down to 14 µs for the highest doping concentrations, resulting from energy transfer and migration assisted decay.