Broadband infrared LEDs based on europium-to-terbium charge transfer luminescence.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32686683.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-17469-x and PMC identifier 7371692.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Efficient broadband infrared (IR) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are needed for emerging applications that exploit near-IR spectroscopy, ranging from hand-held electronics to medicine. Here we report broadband IR luminescence, cooperatively originating from Eu<sup>2+</sup> and Tb<sup>3+</sup> dopants in CaS. This peculiar emission overlaps with the red Eu<sup>2+</sup> emission, ranges up to 1200 nm (full-width-at-half-maximum of 195 nm) and is efficiently excited with visible light. Experimental evidence for metal-to-metal charge transfer (MMCT) luminescence is collected, comprising data from luminescence spectroscopy, microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy. State-of-the-art multiconfigurational ab initio calculations attribute the IR emission to the radiative decay of a metastable MMCT state of a Eu<sup>2+</sup>-Tb<sup>3+</sup> pair. The calculations explain why no MMCT emission is found in the similar compound SrS:Eu,Tb and are used to anticipate how to fine-tune the characteristics of the MMCT luminescence. Finally, a near-IR LED for versatile spectroscopic use is manufactured based on the MMCT emission.