The localized inner
4f shell transitions of lanthanide ions are
largely independent of the local surroundings. The luminescence properties
of Ln3+ ions doped into nanocrystals (NCs) are therefore
similar to those in bulk crystals. Quantum size effects, responsible
for the unique size-dependent luminescence of semiconductor NCs, are
generally assumed not to influence the optical properties of Ln3+-doped insulator NCs. However, phonon confinement effects
have been reported to hamper relaxation between closely spaced Stark
levels in Ln3+-doped NCs. At cryogenic temperatures emission
and excitation from higher Stark levels was observed for Ln3+ ions in NCs only and were explained by a cutoff in the acoustic
phonon spectrum. Relaxation would be inhibited as no resonant low
energy (long wavelength) acoustic phonon modes can exist in nanometer
sized crystals, and this prevents relaxation by direct phonon emission
between closely spaced Stark levels. This phenomenon is known as a
phonon bottleneck. Here, we investigate the role of phonon confinement
in Ln-doped NCs. High resolution emission spectra at temperatures
down to 2.2 K are reported for various Ln3+ ions (Er3+, Yb3+, Eu3+) doped into monodisperse
10 nm NaYF4 NCs and compared with spectra for bulk (microcrystalline)
material. Contrary to previous reports, we find no evidence for phonon
bottleneck effects in the emission spectra. Emission from closely
spaced higher Stark levels is observed only at high excitation powers
and is explained by laser heating. The present results indicate that
previously reported effects in NCs may not be caused by phonon confinement.