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Title: Construction of an Fe–Ni energy bridge for NIR-II luminescence enhancement and anti-thermal quenching via microwave-induced defect engineering

Authors: Xiaomeng Wang, Jiaren Du, Dariusz Hreniak, Wiesław Stręk, Kai Jiang, Hengwei Lin

Journal: Materials Horizons

DOI: 10.1039/d5mh00427f   

Near-infrared (NIR) light-emitting materials (NIR) are of great interest because of their potential for use as LED radiation-converting layers or in sensing applications in the detection of, for example, environmental pollutants or food safety.

However, the development of an efficient phosphor containing no environmentally harmful Cr³⁺ producing broadband NIR emission in the wavelength range beyond 1000 nm (in the so-called second biological window, NIR-II), remains a major challenge.

In the present work, a material in which an Fe³⁺-Ni²⁺ “energy bridge” was generated in the Ca₂ScSbO₆ crystal lattice was designed and obtained for the first time. The luminescence measurements revealed surprisingly broadband NIR emission from Ni²⁺, made possible by efficient energy transfer from Fe³⁺ to Ni²⁺.

The recorded NIR emission showed a half-width of as much as 173 nm with an emission maximum at 1560 nm. The results of the presented study enable a novel approach to the design of high-power LED-based NIR-II light sources.