Hyperspectral Imaging as a Tool to Study Optical Anisotropy in Lanthanide-Based Molecular Single Crystals

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Spectroscopy
• Crystallography

Background:

• Lanthanide (Ln3+)-based molecular crystals exhibit unique luminescent properties.
• Understanding their optical characteristics is crucial for advanced material applications.
• Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is an emerging technique for detailed material analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate a novel protocol using HSI for analyzing luminescent Ln3+-based molecular single crystals.
• To investigate the spectro-spatial variations in luminescence intensity within these crystals.
• To demonstrate the potential of HSI for exploring structure-property relationships in advanced materials.

Main Methods:

• Application of hyperspectral imaging (HSI) to a representative heterodinuclear Ln3+-based complex single crystal, [TbEu(bpm)(tfaa)6].
• Acquisition of 2D spatial images combined with spectral information from each pixel.
• Analysis of local spectral data to identify luminescence intensity variations across the crystal.

Main Results:

• HSI successfully provided local spectral information for the [Tb-Eu] complex crystal.
• Variations in luminescence intensity were observed at different points within the crystal.
• These variations were attributed to optical anisotropy arising from differing molecular packing of Ln3+ ions.

Conclusions:

• The described HSI protocol is suitable for spectro-spatial investigations of molecular materials.
• The protocol can be extended to various other luminescent materials, including nanoparticles and biological samples.
• This technique facilitates deeper understanding of structure-property relationships for engineering advanced materials.