Photostable and Small YVO₄:Yb,Er Upconversion Nanoparticles in Water

In this work, we report a simple method of silica coating of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) to obtain well-crystalline particles that remain small and not agglomerated after high-temperature post-annealing, and produce bright visible emission when pumped with near-infrared light. This enables many interesting biological applications, including high-contrast and deep tissue imaging, quantum sensing and super-resolution microscopy. These VO₄-based UNCPs are an attractive alternative to fluoride-based crystals for water-based biosensing applications.