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While numerous approaches have been devised to optimize the luminescence properties of Eu2+-activated phosphors, the quest for a simple design strategy to achieve color-tunable Eu2+ emission remains a significant challenge. Here, we present a straightforward, doping-free method to tailor the site occupation of Eu2+ and modify its luminescence properties. In the pristine sample, the NaBaB9O15 (NBB) host featuring two cation sites (Na+ and Ba2+), Eu2+ exclusively occupies the Ba2+ site, resulting in blue emission when the NBB:Eu2+ phosphor is synthesized in a H2 reducing atmosphere. When we use CO instead of a H2 reducing atmosphere, impressively, the formation energy required for heterovalent substitution of Na+ by Eu2+ is lowered, leading to the emergence of a distinct green emission band. Significantly, the resultant phosphor NBB:Eu2+@CO exhibits not only a high internal quantum yield of 85.1% and zero-thermal-quenching behavior within the temperature range of 25–200 °C but also wavelength-tunable emission. Benefitting from the multi-color luminescence of the NBB:Eu2+@CO phosphor, its optical applications will no longer be confined to general lighting but extend to anti-counterfeiting and encryption. This study provides a novel design methodology for optimizing the optical properties of Eu2+-activated phosphors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial light fishing technology has been used in marine fisheries for thousands of years. The light source with multi‐color adjustable output is expected to become a new generation of fish‐attracting lamps. Herein, a new method of crystal‐site engineering through reducing atmospheres is proposed for the development of Eu2+ doped single‐phase phosphor with multi‐excitation and multi‐emission properties. Following this approach, the distribution ratio of Eu2+ at Ca2+ and Sr2+ sites in CaSrSiO4 (CSO) can be modulated. Importantly, Eu2+ at both lattice sites exhibit non‐interfering optical properties, CSO:Eu2+ phosphor realizes multi‐color output from green to yellow and then to red when Eu2+ occupies the Sr2+ and Ca2+ sites in a relatively balanced ratio. Benefitting from the tunable color range covering the spectral sensitivity regions of most marine fishes, this phosphor may eventually be applied in futuristic innovative fish‐attracting lamps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing novel luminescent materials with ideal properties is an endless project, urged by growing requirements of advances in energy saving, healthy lighting and environmental friendliness. Herein, a series of ScCaOBO3:Ce3+,Mn2+ phosphors with excellent luminescence properties were synthesized by the high temperature solid state method. X-ray diffraction was applied to analyse the phase composition of the obtained phosphors. The morphology and dopant distribution were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), respectively. The Rietveld refinements and luminescence spectra indicate that Ce3+ preferentially occupies the Sc3+ site and produces a blue emission band at around 460 nm, which originates from the characteristic 5d–4f transitions, while Mn2+ preferentially occupies the Ca2+ site and emits red light due to its characteristic 4T1(4G)–6A1(6S) transitions. Upon excitation at 354 nm, both Ce3+ and Mn2+ emissions can be obtained and further investigations evidenced that the broad and intense light emission of Mn2+ located in the red spectral region is the result of energy transfer from Ce3+ to Mn2+. Theoretical calculations reveal that the energy transfer process from Ce3+ to Mn2+ is of the resonance type and is governed by electric dipole–dipole interactions. Since the ScCaOBO3:Ce3+,Mn2+ phosphors are capable of producing broadband emissions that widely cover the blue and red spectral regions, the introduction of a green light-emitting phosphor CMA:Tb3+ can conveniently generate high quality white light. Therefore, a white light-emitting diode device with extremely high color rendering indices, Ra = 93.7 and R9 = 91.9, was successfully obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of Er3+, Tm3+, Yb3+ co-doped or tri-doped SrLu2O4 phosphors were synthesized by a high-temperature solid-state reaction method. The crystal structure was characterized by X-ray diffraction technique and further validated by Rietveld refinement. The chemical composition and elemental distribution of tri-doped sample were determined by the energy-dispersive spectrometry. It is worthwhile to note that the upconversion (UC) luminescence of as-prepared samples could be precisely controlled by adjusting the Yb3+ doping concentration and the excitation pump power. A bright UC white light in Er3+/Tm3+/Yb3+ tri-doped SrLu2O4 samples was observed by controlling the intensities of red, green and blue emissions. Under various pump powers in the range of 290-810 mW, the color coordinates could be effectively tuned in a quite broad white region. Particularly, the color coordinate of optimal sample under 630 mW at 980-nm excitation is (0.3336, 0.3244), which is very close to the standard white-light illumination (0.333, 0.333) and the corresponding correlated color temperature is 5442 K. Based on the UC emission spectra and luminescence decay curves, the energy transfer (ET) mechanisms involved in the different UC processes were proposed in detail. The results imply that ET processes of Yb3+ → Er3+, Yb3+ → Tm3+ and Tm3+ → Er3+ worked simultaneously in tri-doped system and produced white UC emissions by means of two- or three-photon processes. The Er3+/Tm3+/Yb3+ tri-doped SrLu2O4 phosphor can be a potential candidate for white UC material in displays, backlights and white-light sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of novel SrLu2O4: x Ho3+, y Yb3+ phosphors ( x=0.005-0.05, y=0.1-0.6) were synthesized by a simple solid-state reaction method. The phase purity, morphology, and upconversion luminescence were measured by X-ray diffraction ( XRD), scanning electron microscopy ( SEM), and photoluminescence ( PL) spectroscopy. The doping concentrations and sintering temperature were optimized to be x=0.01, y=0.5 and T=1400°C to obtain the strongest emission intensity. Under 980 nm laser diode excitation, the SrLu2O4:Ho3+, Yb3+ phosphors exhibit intense green upconversion ( UC) emission band centered at 541 nm (5F4,5S2→5I8) and weak red emission peaked at 673 nm (5F5→5I8). Under different pump-power excitation, the UC luminescence can be finely tuned from yellow-green to green light region to some extent. Based on energy level diagram, the energy-transfer mechanisms are investigated in detail according to the analysis of pump-power dependence and luminescence decay curves. The energy-transfer mechanisms for green and red UC emissions can be determined to be two-photon absorption processes. Compared with commercial NaYF4:Er3+, Yb3+ and common Y2O3:Ho3+, Yb3+ phosphors, the SrLu1.49Ho0.01Yb0.5O4 sample shows good color monochromaticity and relatively high UC luminescence intensity. The results imply that SrLu2O4:Ho3+, Yb3+ can be a good candidate for green UC material in display fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quest for artificial light sources mimicking sunlight has been a long-standing endeavor, particularly for applications in anticounterfeiting, agriculture, and color hue detection. Conventional sunlight simulators are often cost-prohibitive and bulky. Therefore, the development of a series of single-phase phosphors Ca 9 LiMg 1-x Al 2x/3 (PO 4 ) 7 :0.1Eu 2+ (x = 0-0.75) with sunlight-like emission represents a welcome step towards compact and economical light source alternatives. The phosphors are obtained by an original heterovalent substitution method and emit a broad spectrum   spanning from violet to deep red. Notably, the phosphor with x = 0.5 exhibits an impressive full width at half-maximum of 330 nm. A synergistic interplay of experimental investigations and theory unveils the mechanism behind sunlight-like emission due to the local structural perturbations introduced by the heterovalent substitution of Al 3+ for Mg 2+ , leading to a varied distribution of Eu 2+ within the lattice. Subsequent characterization of a series of organic dyes combining absorption spectroscopy with convolutional neural network analysis convincingly demonstrates the potential of this phosphor in portable photodetection devices. Broad-spectrum light source testing empowers the model to precisely differentiate dye patterns. This points to the phosphor being ideal for mimicking sunlight. Beyond this demonstrated application, the phosphor's utility is envisioned in other relevant domains, including visible light communication and smart agriculture., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Materials published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Developing novel luminescent materials with ideal properties is an endless project, urged by growing requirements of advances in energy saving, healthy lighting and environmental friendliness. Herein, a series of ScCaOBO 3 :Ce 3+ ,Mn 2+ phosphors with excellent luminescence properties were synthesized by the high temperature solid state method. X-ray diffraction was applied to analyse the phase composition of the obtained phosphors. The morphology and dopant distribution were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), respectively. The Rietveld refinements and luminescence spectra indicate that Ce 3+ preferentially occupies the Sc 3+ site and produces a blue emission band at around 460 nm, which originates from the characteristic 5d-4f transitions, while Mn 2+ preferentially occupies the Ca 2+ site and emits red light due to its characteristic 4 T 1 ( 4 G)- 6 A 1 ( 6 S) transitions. Upon excitation at 354 nm, both Ce 3+ and Mn 2+ emissions can be obtained and further investigations evidenced that the broad and intense light emission of Mn 2+ located in the red spectral region is the result of energy transfer from Ce 3+ to Mn 2+ . Theoretical calculations reveal that the energy transfer process from Ce 3+ to Mn 2+ is of the resonance type and is governed by electric dipole-dipole interactions. Since the ScCaOBO 3 :Ce 3+ ,Mn 2+ phosphors are capable of producing broadband emissions that widely cover the blue and red spectral regions, the introduction of a green light-emitting phosphor CMA:Tb 3+ can conveniently generate high quality white light. Therefore, a white light-emitting diode device with extremely high color rendering indices, R a = 93.7 and R 9 = 91.9, was successfully obtained.

A new generation of red phosphors of complex fluoride matrices activated with Mn 4+ has gained a broad interest in getting high color quality and low color temperature of solid-state white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs). However, besides their instability toward moisture, the extremely irregular and nonuniform morphologies of these phosphors have limited their practical industry applications. In the present study, a novel type of K 3 ScF 6 :Mn 4+ red phosphor with highly regular, uniform, and high color purity was obtained successfully through a facile coprecipitation route under mild conditions. The crystal structure was identified with aids of the powder X-ray diffraction, Rietveld refinement, and density functional theory calculations. The prototype crystallizes in the space group Fm3 m with a cubic structure, and the lattice parameters are fitted well to be a = b = c = 8.4859(8) Å and V = 611.074(2) Å 3 . The Mn 4+ ions occupy Sc 3+ sites and locate at the centers of the distorted ScF 6 octahedrons. A wide band gap of approximately 6.15 eV can provide sufficient space to accommodate impurity energy levels. Unlike most other Mn 4+ ion-activated fluoride phosphors, the as-prepared K 3 ScF 6 :Mn 4+ phosphors demonstrate highly uniform and regular morphologies with shapes transforming from cube to octahedron with increasing Mn 4+ ion concentration. Under blue light excitation, the as-prepared K 3 ScF 6 :Mn 4+ sample exhibits intense sharp-line red fluorescence (the strongest peak located at 631 nm) with high color purity. An excellent recovery in luminescence upon heating and cooling processes implies high stability of K 3 ScF 6 :Mn 4+ . Furthermore, a warm WLED fabricated with blue GaN chips merged with the mixture of K 3 ScF 6 :Mn 4+ and the well-known commercial YAG:Ce 3+ yellow phosphors exhibits wonderful color quality with lower correlated color temperature (3250 K) and higher color-rendering index ( R a = 86.4). These results suggest that the K 3 ScF 6 :Mn 4+ phosphor possesses stupendous potentiality for practical applications.