Amorphous Engineering of Transparent High-Crystallinity Luminescent Nano-Glass-Ceramics for Advanced Photonic Applications.

Abstract

Transparent glass-ceramics are promising materials for advanced applications, but their development is fundamentally constrained by low crystallinity (<70%), leading to significant "performance deterioration". In order to overcome this bottleneck, this study proposes a universal amorphous engineering approach, which synergistically exploits amorphous phase separation and glass-network confinement. This method promotes heterogeneous nucleation at phase boundaries and spatially restricts crystal growth, achieving ultra-high crystallinity (> 90%) while maintaining high optical transparency (> 90%). Unlike conventional approaches that rely on specific compositions or crystallization pathways, this broadly adaptable strategy has been successfully extended to fluoride, oxide, perovskite, and sulfide-based glass-ceramics, demonstrating its versatility. Upon rare-earth doping, the composites exhibit superior performance in transparent displays, laser-driven lighting, and high-resolution X-ray imaging. The results provide an adaptable strategy for next-generation photonic materials in advanced optical technologies.