Raisin-like rare earth doped gadolinium fluoride nanocrystals: Microwave synthesis and magnetic and upconversion luminescent properties

Bifunctional lanthanide doped 3D raisin-like GdF ₃ nanocrystals were synthesized by a microwave method. The influences of synthesis parameters on the final morphology were investigated and the morphology can be tuned to snow-like microcrystals and nanocrystals. The as-prepared samples possess properties of multicolor upconversion (UC) photoluminescence (PL) and paramagnetism. To understand the magnetic mechanism, temperature dependence of zero-field cooling (ZFC) and field cooling (FC) magnetization of the raisin-like GdF ₃ nanocrystals were studied.