The Role of Infrared Light in Cancer Therapy

Rare earth luminescence has received widespread attention in recent years. The process of using low-energy light to generate high-energy photons is called upconversion luminescence. In the 1950s, reports on upconversion (UC) luminescence began to slowly emerge. People are beginning to pay attention to this issue. Upconversion (UC) luminescence can be performed by low-power and incoherent excitation sources, such as continuous-wave lasers, standard xenon or halogen lamps, or even focused sunlight. In the treatment of cancer cells, photodynamic therapy is undoubtedly a research hotspot. In this paper, I will introduce the history and mechanism of rare-earth upconversion (UC) luminescence; these kinds of materials have a wide range of applications using light energy. In this paper, I will analyze how it can be applied to the Photodynamic therapy of cancer cells; building a temperature sensor and detecting the temperature of cancer cells and the surrounding environment through the light-emitting characteristics will also be introduced in detail.