A reflection on “Intriguing aspects of lanthanide luminescence”

Lanthanide luminescence surrounds us in everyday life and is essential for cutting-edge technological and healthcare applications. In 2013, we published a minireview in <i>Chemical Science</i> (<i>Chem. Sci.</i>, 2013, <b>4</b>, 1939-1949, https://doi.org/10.1039/C3SC22126A) that was focused on the latest innovations and less-known aspects of lanthanide luminescence in applications such as biological imaging, sensing and therapy, security inks and anti-counterfeiting tags, luminescent probes and sensors, and solar energy conversion. Herein, a discussion of the progress of this field is provided with support of the most recent examples in the areas of circularly polarized luminescence, nanothermometry and multiplexed biological imaging in the extended second near-infrared window (NIR-II, 1000-3000 nm).