Recent Progress on the Spectroscopy of Rare Earth Ions in Core–Shells, Nanowires, Nanotubes, and Other Novel Nanostructures

Research and development of nanoscale luminescent and laser materials are part of the rapidly advancing nanoscience and nanotechnology. Because of unique spectroscopic properties and luminescent dynamics of f-electron states, doping luminescent rare earth ions into nano-hosts has been demonstrated as an optimistic approach to developing highly efficient and stable nanophosphors for various applications. In this article, we review the most recent progress in spectroscopic measurements of rare earth ion-activated low-dimensional nanostructures including nanolayers, core–shells, nanowires, nanotubes, and nanodisks. Among a large volume of work reported in the literature on many members of the rare earth series including Ce3+, Pr3+, Nd3+, Eu3+, and Er3+, we focus on recent findings in the spectroscopic and luminescence properties of Eu3+ doped nanolayers, core–shells, and nanotubes, because Eu3+ ions have been extensively studied and widely used as an ideal probe for fundamental understanding of nano-phenomena. Specifically, the dependence of the optical properties of rare earth ions on nanostructures is discussed in detail.