Fluorescent assemblies for drilling depth correlation

A method comprising:

• introducing a fluorescent assembly into a drilling fluid, the fluorescent assembly having an average particle size of at least one millimeter;
• circulating the drilling fluid through a well during a drilling operation that creates formation cuttings such that the fluorescent assembly interacts with the formation cuttings, creating tagged cuttings;
• collecting returned cuttings from the circulating drilling fluid at a surface of the well;
• detecting the presence of the fluorescent assembly on the returned cuttings to identify the tagged cuttings;
• and
• correlating the tagged cuttings with a drill depth in the well at a time during the drilling operation.

A method, comprising:

• mixing a first fluorophore with a starting monomer and a catalyst to form a mixture and encapsulate the first fluorophore in a polymer matrix material made of the starting monomer;
• extracting fluorescent assemblies having a size of at least 1 mm from the mixture, the fluorescent assemblies comprising the first fluorophore encapsulated in the polymer matrix;
• and
• mixing the fluorescent assemblies with a drilling fluid prior to introducing the drilling fluid downhole in a drilling operation.