Photon avalanche emission in lanthanide doped nanomaterials for super-resolution imaging

Photon avalanche (PA) is one of energy up-conversion processes, which is characterized by highly nonlinear relation between the luminescence intensity and the excitation power. Demonstrating PA in nanocrystals paved the way to new potential applications in optoelectronics, sensorics, and imaging. We present the essential aspects of photon avalanching in the context of super-resolution imaging, including the mechanism of improved lateral resolution in raster scanning with a single Gaussian excitation beam. Moreover, we discuss the impact of the luminescence rise dynamics on the imaging based on the photon avalanche effect.