La0.45Er0.05Yb0.5Nb2O7 nanosheets were synthesized by a soft breakdown method (exfoliation).
The lateral size and thickness of the nanosheets were approximately 300 nm and approximately 3.91 nm, respectively.
The exfoliated nanosheets exhibited bright upconversion emission 7.6 times more intense than that of the milled sample (100–500 nm).
The nanosheets dispersed in solvents exhibited greatly different upconversion emission intensities depending on the solvent׳s vibrational energy.