Narrowband Ultraviolet-B Persistent Luminescence in an Indoor-Lighting Environment through Energy Transfer from Host Excitons to Gd3+ Emitters in ScPO4.

Narrowband ultraviolet-B (NB-UVB) luminescent materials are characterized by high photon energy, narrow spectral width, and visible-blind emission, thus holding great promise for photochemistry and photomedicine. However, most NB-UVB phosphors developed so far are photoluminescent, where continuous external excitation is needed. Herein, we realize NB-UVB persistent luminescence (PersL) in an indoor-lighting environment by exploiting the interaction between self-trapped/defect-trapped excitons and Gd3+ emitters in ScPO4. The phosphor shows a self-luminescing feature with a peak maximum at 313 nm with a time duration of >24 h after ceasing X-ray irradiation, which can be clearly imaged by an UVB camera in a bright environment. Spectroscopic and theoretical approaches reveal that thermo- and photo-stimulations of energies trapped at intrinsic lattice defects followed by energy transfer to Gd3+ emitters account for the emergence of the afterglow. The present results can initiate more exploration of NB-UVB PersL phosphors for emerging applications in secret optical tagging and phototherapy.

X-ray-Excited Long-Lasting Narrowband Ultraviolet-B Persistent Luminescence from Gd3+-Doped Sr2P2O7 Phosphor.

Persistent phosphors emitting in the narrowband ultraviolet-B (NB-UVB) spectral region have aroused significant interest, owing to their special self-illuminating feature in realizing many advanced technological applications under excitation-free conditions, such as dermatological therapy and invisible optical tagging. Here, we focus our discussion on a new Gd3+-doped persistent phosphor, Sr2P2O7:Gd3+, which exhibits long-lasting NB-UVB persistent luminescence peaking at 312 nm for more than 24 h after charging by an X-ray beam. The NB-UVB light emission from the charged Sr2P2O7:Gd3+ phosphor can be clearly detected by a UVB camera in bright indoor environment. More importantly, the enhancement of NB-UVB afterglow intensity and decay time can be observed under continuous photostimulation of polychromic indoor ambient light. Furthermore, applying charged Sr2P2O7:Gd3+ phosphors as invisible optical taggants, clear and interference-free recognition of the encrypted message and location of different objects have been realized due to the lack of UVB light in bright indoor environment. The as-prepared Sr2P2O7:Gd3+ persistent phosphor is expected to offer new directional solutions for the development and application of ultraviolet luminescence technology.

Site-Selective Occupancy Control of Cr Ions toward Ultrabroad-Band Infrared Luminescence with a Spectral Width up to 419 nm.

Infrared-emitting phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are desirable light sources for a very wide range of applications such as spectroscopy analysis, nondestructive monitoring, covert information identification, and night-vision surveillance. The most important aspect of infrared emitters for spectroscopy is to cover the widest possible wavelength range of emitted light. However, developing ultrabroad-band infrared emitters based on converter technology is still a challenging task due to the lack of suitable phosphor materials that emit in a wide wavelength range upon excitation from blue-emitting chips. Herein, this work demonstrates Cr3+-activated Mg2SiO4 infrared phosphors with a super wide infrared spectral range of 600 to 1400 nm and high internal quantum yield up to 80.4% upon 460 nm excitation. Site-selective occupancy of Cr3+ emitters in two different Mg sites in the Mg2SiO4 lattice results in two distinct broad emission bands peaking at 760 and 970 nm, both of which contribute to the ultrabroad-band infrared luminescence with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 419 nm. This is by far the broadest infrared emission to the best of our knowledge. On this basis, an ultrabroad-band infrared LED prototype has been fabricated by the combination of the Mg2SiO4:Cr3+ phosphor with a blue LED chip, which shows great potential for imaging and sensing applications. This work demonstrates that site-selective occupancy control of Cr ions is an effective strategy for developing ultrabroad-band Cr3+-doped phosphors.

Blue LED-pumped intense short-wave infrared luminescence based on Cr3+-Yb3+-co-doped phosphors.

The growing demand for spectroscopy applications in the areas of agriculture, retail and healthcare has led to extensive research on infrared light sources. The ability of phosphors to absorb blue light from commercial LED and convert the excitation energy into long-wavelength infrared luminescence is crucial for the design of cost-effective and high-performance phosphor-converted infrared LEDs. However, the lack of ideal blue-pumped short-wave infrared (SWIR) phosphors with an emission peak longer than 900 nm greatly limits the development of SWIR LEDs using light converter technology. Here we have developed a series of SWIR-emitting materials with high luminescence efficiency and excellent thermal stability by co-doping Cr3+-Yb3+ ion pairs into Lu0.2Sc0.8BO3 host materials. Benefitting from strong light absorption of Cr3+ in the blue waveband and very efficient Cr3+→Yb3+ energy transfer, the as-synthesized Lu0.2Sc0.8BO3:Cr3+,Yb3+ phosphor emits intense SWIR light in the 900-1200 nm from Yb3+ under excitation with blue light at ~460 nm. The optimized phosphor presents an internal quantum yield of 73.6% and the SWIR luminescence intensity at 100 °C can still keep 88.4% of the starting value at 25 °C. SWIR LED prototype device based on Lu0.2Sc0.8BO3:Cr3+,Yb3+ phosphor exhibits exceptional luminescence performance, delivering SWIR radiant power of 18.4 mW with 9.3% of blue-to-SWIR power conversion efficiency and 5.0% of electricity-to-SWIR light energy conversion efficiency at 120 mA driving current. Moreover, under the illumination of high-power SWIR LED, covert information identification and night vision lighting have been realized, demonstrating a very bright prospect for practical applications.

Narrowband ultraviolet-B persistent luminescence from (Y,Gd)3Ga5O12:Bi3+ phosphors for optical tagging application.

Luminescent materials that emit in the narrowband ultraviolet-B (NB-UVB; 310-313 nm) spectral region have attracted considerable attention due to their unique spectral features, which endow them with great potential applications in the fields of photochemistry and photomedicine. However, NB-UVB persistent luminescent materials are relatively lacking, especially materials that are excitable by natural sunlight. Here we report the NB-UVB persistent luminescence of Gd3+ in (Y,Gd)3Ga5O12:Bi3+ garnets by making use of the persistent energy transfer from Bi3+ to Gd3+. The optimal Bi3+ and Gd3+ concentrations for the maximum energy transfer efficiency are determined and persistent NB-UVB light emission with a peak wavelength at 313 nm and an afterglow time of more than 24 h is successfully achieved in the (Y,Gd)3Ga5O12:Bi3+ phosphor. More importantly, the as-synthesized NB-UVB persistent phosphors are also excitable by the widely available natural sunlight and exhibit exceptional NB-UVB persistent luminescence performance. Benefitting from the visible-blind emission feature, interference-free capability from indoor ambient light and self-sustained optical characteristic, the developed sunlight-excitable NB-UVB persistent phosphors here not only hold great promise for covert optical tagging applications, but also open new opportunities for optical data storage in a bright indoor environment.

Broadband Short-Wave Infrared Light-Emitting Diodes Based on Cr3+-Doped LiScGeO4 Phosphor.

Short-wave infrared (SWIR) spectroscopy has recently emerged as an important technology across a wide range of areas, whether industrial, biomedical, or environmental. Nevertheless, it is still a long-standing challenge to develop robust SWIR light sources. The SWIR phosphor-convert light emitting diodes (LEDs) by coating blue LED chips with desirable SWIR-emitting phosphors are becoming an ideal alternative for solid-state SWIR light sources due to its compactness, low-cost, and long operating lifetime, as does the commercial white LEDs. Herein, we report a blue-pumped Cr3+-doped LiScGeO4 SWIR phosphor as a luminescent converter for phosphor-convert SWIR LEDs. This phosphor shows an intense SWIR emission band with a peak wavelength at ∼1120 nm owing to the 4T2 → 4A2 electron transition of Cr3+ when exciting with blue light. The full width at half-maximum (fwhm) of the phosphor is ∼300 nm and the absolute quantum efficiency is determined to be ∼26%. SWIR LED prototypes are constructed by combining the optimized phosphor materials with commercial blue InGaN LED chips, which can generate a commendable emission band in the SWIR region over 800-1600 nm and achieve a maximum output power of ∼4.78 mW at 60 mA with the photoconversion efficiency of 4.4%. The current exploration of Cr3+-doped SWIR-emitting phosphors will lay the foundation to engineer phosphor-convert SWIR LEDs for applications in night-vision surveillance and SWIR spectroscopy technology. These blue-light-excitable SWIR-emitting phosphors can serve as an important complement to the spectral gap of the current Cr3+-doped phosphors in the SWIR region and will pave the way toward cost-effective phosphor-converted solid-state SWIR light sources.

Ultraviolet-C persistent luminescence from the Lu2SiO5:Pr3+ persistent phosphor for solar-blind optical tagging.

Visible and infrared persistent phosphors have gained considerable attention in recent years and are being widely used as glow-in-the-dark materials in dark environments. In contrast, the progress in persistent phosphors emitting at the other end of the spectrum, i.e., the shorter-wavelength ultraviolet-C (UVC; 200-280 nm), is rather slow. Here we report the design and synthesis of a well-performing Pr3+-doped UVC emissive persistent phosphor, Lu2SiO5:Pr3+, which exhibits intense UVC persistent luminescence peaking at 270 nm and a long persistence time of more than 12 h after excitation with a 254 nm UV lamp. Besides, the UVC persistent luminescence of a UV pre-irradiated sample can be repeatedly revived after repeated short-illumination with low-energy white light via a process called photostimulated persistent luminescence. Owing to the distinct spectral features of UVC light and the self-sustained luminescence properties, the UVC persistent luminescence of the Lu2SiO5:Pr3+ persistent phosphor can be clearly monitored and imaged using a corona camera in bright environments including direct sunlight and indoor light. The Lu2SiO5:Pr3+ persistent phosphor is expected to find promising applications in the covert optical tagging field.