Perceiving Linear-Velocity by Multiphoton Upconversion

Up to now, the rising edge of the upconversion process does not receive due attention. Herein, a demonstration utilizing the feature of the rising edge to practically detect the linear-velocity of an object is presented. Typically, upconversion processes with different numbers of participant photons would exhibit diversity in the rising edge. On this account, when the emitter is moving, the emission intensity ratio of different multiphoton processes will vary with changing linear-velocity, which enables accurate speed detection through spectral analysis. To illustrate this principle, in this work, the modeling and numerical simulation were first performed, and then experimental demonstration was carried out in which core–shell upconversion nanocrystals were elaborately designed and fabricated as the speed sensing probe to calibrate the speed of a homemade turnplate. It is believed that the present work will exploit a novel speed sensing method and find a new application for lanthanide-doped upconversion materials.