The emission spectrum and the radiative lifetime of Eu3+ in luminescent lanthanide complexes

Abstract

Although luminescent complexes of lanthanide ions and organic ligands have been studied intensively, relatively little attention has been paid to the natural (or ‘radiative’) lifetime of the lanthanide centered luminescent state in these systems. Here, the applicability of the well-known Judd–Ofelt theory to the emissive properties of Eu³⁺ complexes is investigated. Moreover, it is demonstrated experimentally that the radiative lifetime of the ⁵D₀ excited state of Eu³⁺ can be calculated directly from its corrected emission spectrum, without using Judd–Ofelt theory. We also discuss briefly the possibility of finding the natural lifetimes of lanthanide ions other than Eu³⁺.