Suppressing the visible luminescence in GdF3:ErF3 nanoparticles with intermediate magnetic fields

Nearly two orders of magnitude decrease of the visible emission of GdF3:ErF3 nanoparticles under 797 nm laser excitation is experimentally observed with an external magnetic field (MF) up to about 1.3 T at room temperature. Transmission measurement of the excitation laser indicates that the MF induced luminescence suppression in the prepared nanoparticles is mainly due to the decreased absorption of the excitation photons. This ultrahigh luminescence sensitivity to MF is rather suitable for locally and optically sensing of intermediate MFs in nanoscale volumes with high field-resolution and can find practical applications in other related areas.