Multicolor barcoding in a single upconversion crystal

We report the synthesis of luminescent crystals based on hexagonal-phase NaYF₄ upconversion microrods. The synthetic procedure involves an epitaxial end-on growth of upconversion nanocrystals comprising different lanthanide activators onto the NaYF₄ microrods. This bottom-up method readily affords multicolor-banded crystals in gram quantity by varying the composition of the activators. Importantly, the end-on growth method using one-dimensional microrods as the template enables facile multicolor tuning in a single crystal, which is inaccessible in conventional upconversion nanoparticles. We demonstrate that these novel materials offer opportunities as optical barcodes for anticounterfeiting and multiplexed labeling applications.