Ultrasmall pure hexagonal phase NaYF 4 :Yb,Er is successfully prepared via the solvothermal method. The upconversion (UC) luminescence of hexagonal phase NaYF 4 :Yb,Er nanocrystals is ten times stronger than that of cubic phase nanocrystals with the same size of 6 nm. XRD results reveal that heating above 673 K leads to conversion of the hexagonal phase to the high-temperature cubic phase, whereas the cubic nanocrystals undergo phase transformation from normal cubic at room temperature to hexagonal at 673 K and further to high-temperature cubic above 773 K. The hexagonal nanocrystals exhibit emission enhancement after heat treatment up to 573 K. Further heating above 773 K induces a decreasing trend in emission due to the phase transition to the high-temperature cubic phase. The cubic phase exhibits decreasing luminescence with temperature due to strong cross relaxation and then increasing luminescence above the temperature of 673 K due to the hexagonal phase transformation. The luminescent properties of both the normal cubic phase and high-temperature cubic phase indicate that different crystal fields exist in these two phases due to the rearrangement of ligands around Er 3+ at high temperature.

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In this work, Mn2+-doped ZnS nanorods were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method. The morphology, structure, and composition of the as-prepared samples were investigated. The temperature-dependent photoluminescence of ZnS:Mn nanorods was analyzed, and the corresponding activation energies were calculated by using a simple two-step rate equation. Mn2+-related orange emission (4T1 → 6A1) demonstrates high stability and is comparatively less affected by the temperature variations than the defect-related emission. A metal–semiconductor–metal junction ultraviolet photodetector based on the nanorod networks has been fabricated by a cost-effective method. The device exhibits visible blindness, superior ultraviolet photodetection with a responsivity of 1.62 A/W, and significantly fast photodetection response with the rise and decay times of 12 and 25 ms, respectively.

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