Boltzmann luminescent nanothermometry: mechanistic criteria and predictive design of thermally coupled levels

Kejie Li; Jiaqi Zhao; Mochen Jia; Dongxu Guo; Ruiying Lu; Zhiying Wang; Zuoling Fu

doi:10.1038/s41377-026-02260-2

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Boltzmann luminescent nanothermometry: mechanistic criteria and predictive design of thermally coupled levels

Original Articles

- Boltzmann luminescent nanothermometry: mechanistic criteria and predictive design of thermally coupled levels
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 15, Issue 6, Pages: 1996-2008(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Key Laboratory of Physics and Technology for Advanced Batteries, College of Physics, Jilin University, Changchun, China
  2.Key Laboratory of Materials Physics of Ministry of Education, School of Physics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
  3.Nanophotonics and Biophotonics Key Laboratory of Jilin Province, School of Physics, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, China
- Author bio：
  
  Mochen Jia (mcjia@zzu.edu.cn)
  Zhiying Wang (zhiyingw@cust.edu.cn)
  Zuoling Fu (zlfu@jlu.edu.cn)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-026-02260-2
  CLC：
- Received：27 November 2025，
  
  Revised：2026-02-15，
  
  Accepted：27 February 2026，
  
  Online First：24 March 2026，
  
  Published：30 June 2026
- Accepted：
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Li, K. J. et al. Boltzmann luminescent nanothermometry: mechanistic criteria and predictive design of thermally coupled levels. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1996-2008 (2026).
DOI：

Li, K. J. et al. Boltzmann luminescent nanothermometry: mechanistic criteria and predictive design of thermally coupled levels. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1996-2008 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-026-02260-2.

摘要

Abstract

Boltzmann-type luminescent nanothermometry using thermally coupled levels (TCLs) of lanthanide ions is promising for applications in nanotechnology

biomedicine

and aerospace. However

the fu

ndamental rules governing TCLs formation and the reliable prediction of relative sensitivity (

) in specific hosts remain unclear. Here

we develop a population-dynamics framework that quantitatively defines the onset temperature and the thermal coupling window for Boltzmann behavior

dictated by nonradiative rates and the thermalization energy gap (Δ

). Mechanistic analysis reveals how adjacent levels disturb the balance between thermal population and multi-phonon relaxation

and establishes a practical stability criterion: robust coupling occurs when the nearest lower level lies beyond 2Δ

. To enable predictive thermometric design

we introduce a splitting factor that correlates macroscopic

with microscopic chemical bond parameters. Leveraging two TCLs pairs

we further demonstrate ultrathin

flexible thermosensing patches with high brightness and

up to 6.17% K

−1

enabling real-time in situ temperature mapping during reactions. This work provides physics-based guidelines for the rational design of high-precision luminescent nanothermometers.

关键词

Keywords

references

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