Crossluminescence of Nanosized KYF $_{4}$

A series of KYF
₄
nano-powders, undoped and doped with Tb
³⁺
, with well-crystallized, unaggregated, monodisperse (± 15%) nanoparticles of cubic or hexagonal crystal structure and the size in the range from ~ 10 to ~ 40 nm has been synthesized by microwave-hydrothermal method. It was found that crossluminescence in KYF
₄
nanopowders is strongly quenched whereas the slow near-defect excitonic emission as well as the Tb
³⁺
4
f
-4
f
luminescence in Tb
³⁺
doped KYF
₄
nanopowders is excited rather efficiently even for small sizes of particles.