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Cr3+‐activated broadband near‐infrared (NIR) phosphors, featured by the octahedral coordination preference and strong absorption in visible (Vis) region, have great potential application in nondestructive assessment. It is still a challenge to develop Cr3+‐doped phosphors with the tetrahedrally coordinated Cr3+ NIR emission behavior and ultra‐wide Vis–NIR luminescence. Herein, an unusual NIR‐emitting Mg2Al4Si5O18:Cr3+ phosphor offers emission peak at 867 nm with full‐width at half‐maximum of 237 nm due to preferential occupation of the AlO4 tetrahedra by Cr3+ as demonstrated by structural and optical properties studies. Eu2+–Cr3+ energy transfer is proposed to induce ultra‐wide Vis–NIR Mg2Al4Si5O18:Eu2+,Cr3+ phosphors with more efficient NIR emission and lower thermal quenching behavior of Cr3+. The fabricated Vis–NIR phosphor‐converted light‐emitting diode is expected to be an alternative to halogen lamp in hyperspectral imaging. This work reveals the luminescence behavior of Cr3+ in tetrahedra and demonstrates the application of Mg2Al4Si5O18:Eu2+,Cr3+ phosphor in hyperspectral imaging, which will facilitate further research on NIR and Vis–NIR phosphors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of a noncontact photoalignment method to fabricate in‐plane optical structures, defined by the local uniaxial ordering of liquid crystalline conjugated polymer chains, is reported. Molecular orientation is demonstrated for both green‐light‐emitting fluorene‐benzothiadiazole alternating copolymer F8BT and F8BT/red light emitting complex copolymer Red‐F binary blend films deposited on a well‐known azobenzene sulphonic dye photoalignment material SD1. Absorption anisotropy ratios of up to 9.7 are readily achieved for 150 nm thickness F8BT films. Spatial pattern definition, afforded by masking the UV polarized light exposure of the photoalignment layer, allows the fabrication of optical structures with a resolution down to the micron scale. The alignment process is further extended to enable the serial, independent orientation of films deposited on top of each other and to permit the molecular orientation to follow curvilinear patterns. In the former case, this allows F8BT bilayer structures to be fabricated that show even higher absorption anisotropy ratios, up to ≈12, close to the theoretical limit for the previously deduced ≈22° optical transition dipole moment angle relative to the chain axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cr3+‐doped phosphors are highly recognized in various fields for their remarkable luminous efficiency and spectral flexibility, including modern agriculture and horticulture. However, the shortage of suitable Cr3+‐doped phosphors for far‐red LED devices has inhibited their popularization in plant lighting. Herein, an innovative Cr3+‐doped phosphor Ca2YAl3Ge2O12:Cr3+ (CYAG:Cr3+), achieving a broad far‐red emission at 770 nm upon 450 nm blue light excitation is designed. The optimal CYAG:Cr3+ phosphor exhibits a high internal quantum yield of 78.2% and low thermal‐quenching behavior of 85%@373 K. Thus, the fabricated phosphor‐converted LEDs (pc‐LEDs) for plant far‐red lighting have a high output power of 33.3 mW and photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 11.5% at 100 mA. The potential of CYAG:Cr3+ in plant lighting is assessed by supplementing the far‐red lighting of Italian lettuce with fabricated pc‐LEDs, and the biomass of Italian lettuce is significantly increased by 33%. The successful development of CYAG:Cr3+ phosphors provides a high‐quality option for plant far‐red light devices and further stimulates the development of new Cr3+‐doped plant‐lighting phosphors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of carbon dots (CDs) grafted CaAl12O19:Mn4+ (CAO) color‐tunable hybrid phosphors have been synthesized via a facile sol‐gel method. Through the hydrolysis and condensation reactions of the silica precursor, CDs can be incorporated into highly flexible hybrid materials through combining with a CaAl12O19:Mn4+ phosphor within silica gel networks for the fabrication of flexible displays and multicolor luminescent materials. By tuning the mass ratio of CDs/CAO and by adjusting the excitation wavelength, the color of the luminescence can be systematically tailored from purplish‐red (0.504, 0.250) to greenish‐blue (0.238, 0.192). Furthermore, the temperature‐dependent luminescent properties of the CDs/CAO phosphors makes them suitable as thermometers with a wide linear temperature sensing range from 80 to 300 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Far‐red (FR) region (beyond 700 nm) lighting sources possess special potential for plant lighting. However, it remains a challenge to obtain high‐performance Cr3+‐doped FR phosphors. This study developed a FR phosphor, Ca1.8Mg1.2Al2Ge3O12:Cr3+ (CMAGG: Cr3+), using the cation substitution strategy. Under 438 nm blue light excitation, the phosphors display FR emission centered at 720 nm with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 91 nm. Benefit from the favorable match with the FR phytochrome (Pfr), the phosphor is combined with InGaN blue light chips to create a FR phosphor‐converted light‐emitting diode (pc‐LED), which is used in Italian lettuce growth experiments and it results shown in a 15% increase in fresh weight and a 6.5% increase in dry weight. Notably, supplemental FR light modulated its growth morphology. The results of this study will be useful for further research on novel Cr3+‐doped FR phosphors to meet the precise spectral requirements for plant growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing innovative narrow‐band green‐emitting phosphors featuring low thermal quenching and eco‐friendliness for white light‐emitting diode (WLED) backlights is a pivotal challenge. Benefitting from narrowband and low toxicity of green‐emitting silanized carbon dots (Si‐CDs), an efficient confinement and protection strategy through embedding Si‐CDs in mesoporous aluminas (MAs) is proposed to construct MAs and Si‐CDs composites (Si‐CDs@MAs) with superior luminescence properties. Si‐CDs@MAs phosphor exhibits green emission at 526 nm with narrow full width at half maximum of 51 nm, zero‐thermal quenching even up to 423 K (104.1%@423 K of the emission peak intensity at 298 K), and the internal quantum efficiency of 64.46%. Compared with broad‐band yellow‐emitting solid‐state Si‐CDs (S‐Si‐CDs), the thermal stability, photostability, and water stability of Si‐CDs@MAs phosphor are remarkably improved due to surface protection. The WLED backlight is fabricated with optimized Si‐CDs@MAs phosphor, which shows high luminous efficacy of 117.43 lm W−1 and wide color gamut (107% NTSC). Furthermore, this work provides the design principles of realizing stable narrow‐band solid‐state fluorescence carbon dots, suggesting its great potential for wide‐color‐gamut display application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: State‐of‐the‐art near‐infrared lasers based on poly[N‐9′‐heptadecanyl‐2,7‐carbazole‐alt‐5,5‐(4′,7′‐di‐2‐thienyl‐2′,1′,3′‐benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT) and poly(9,9‐dioctylfluorene‐alt‐benzothiadiazole) (F8BT) blends are reported. Polymer light‐emitting diodes (PLEDs) based on PCDTBT/F8BT blends with 30 wt% PCDTBT content exhibit a maximum radiance of 64.3 W sr−1 m−2 and external quantum efficiency of 2.11% with Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates (x = 0.69, y = 0.30). Using an optimal blend ratio of 15 wt% PCDTBT in F8BT, a maximum gain value of 28.2 cm−1 at 710 nm is achieved, a remarkable value given that PCDTBT is a low emissive polymer extensively employed as donor polymer in organic photovoltaics. The lowest amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) and laser thresholds exhibited by the blends are 590 nJ pulse−1 (21 µJ cm−2) and 63.1 nJ pulse−1 (201 µJ cm−2). Transient absorption spectroscopy confirms efficient Förster resonant energy transfer from F8BT to PCDTBT which, together with the large miscibility of PCDTBT in F8BT, enables PCDTBT emission enhancement and optical gain. Furthermore, a ternary blend system composed of F8BT, PCDTBT, and poly(3‐hexylthiophene) is demonstrated, in which the ASE wavelength can be tuned in a 60 nm range from 650 to 710 nm at a very low threshold level via control of the blend content ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) have drawn lots of attention for their excellent properties and broad applications. However, rarely hydrothermal methods of preparation have been investigated and reach a high synthetic yield of CDs, which limits their scale‐up production. In this work, a large‐scale one‐step process is shown to prepare CDs from yeast extract powder (called y‐CDs) for the first time and the yield of CDs can reach up to 65.8%. The optical properties and morphology of the y‐CDs are characterized. On account of good water solubility and high yield of y‐CDs, the application of the reprepared y‐CDs/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as fluorescent shape memory material is explored. It turns out that the reprepared y‐CDs/PVA not only exhibits bright blue luminescence under 365 nm UV light excitation, but also possesses shape memory behavior, which is superior to pure PVA. The interaction between y‐CDs and PVA is explained and a water‐responsive shape memory mechanism of the y‐CDs/PVA composite films is introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]