Circularly polarised X-ray excited optical luminescence (CP-XEOL) study of lanthanides molecular magnets

Over the past decade, interest in circularly polarised luminescence (CPL) has grown rapidly. CPL-active materials have huge potential for applications in biological science, optoelectronics and information storage. In the vast majority of published research, luminescence (achiral or circularly polarised) is excited using light in the same energy range as the emission (UV-Vis-NIR). Synchrotron X-ray radiation can homogeneously excite the sample and lead to optical luminescence (X-ray excited optical luminescence - XEOL). This technique increases the quantum yield of optical luminescence and therefore allows the analysis of very weak transitions in molecules. However, CP-XEOL is not yet a widely used technique and remains vastly unexplored. In this proposal, we aim to investigate the CP-XEOL phenomenon in molecular materials based on lanthanide ions and helicenes in order to expand the database of CP-XEOL measurements and to study in depth the CPL spectra of these particular compounds.