Novel Red-Emitting Eu3+-Doped Y2(WxMo1-xO4)3 Phosphor with High Conversion Efficiency for Lighting and Display Applications

In this study, a series of trivalent europium-doped tungstate and molybdate samples were synthesized using an improved sol-gel and high-temperature solid-state reaction method. The samples had different W/Mo ratios and were calcined at various temperatures ranging from 800 to 1000 °C. The effects of these variables on the crystal structure and photoluminescence characteristics of the samples were investigated. It was found that a doping concentration of 50% for europium yielded the best quantum efficiency based on previous research. The crystal structures were found to be dependent on the W/Mo ratio and calcination temperature. Samples with x ≤ 0.5 had a monoclinic lattice structure that did not change with calcination temperature. Samples with x > 0.75 had a tetragonal structure that remained unchanged with calcination temperature. However, samples with x = 0.75 had their crystal structure solely dependent on the calcination temperature. At 800-900 °C, the crystal structure was tetragonal, while at 1000 °C, it was monoclinic. Photoluminescence behavior was found to correlate with crystal structure and grain size. The tetragonal structure had significantly higher internal quantum efficiency than the monoclinic structure, and smaller grain size had higher internal quantum efficiency than larger grain size. External quantum efficiency initially increased with increasing grain size and then decreased. The highest external quantum efficiency was observed at a calcination temperature of 900 °C. These findings provide insight into the factors affecting the crystal structure and photoluminescence behavior in trivalent europium-doped tungstate and molybdate systems.

CsPbI3/N-GQDs dual layer phosphor-converted white-LEDs with ultrahigh luminous efficiency and color rendering index

Phosphor-converted LEDs or pc-LEDs, as a solid-state lighting source, are attractive for next-generation display technologies because of their energy savings, and green environmentally friendly nature. Recently, white LEDs are being produced commercially by coating blue LED (440-470 nm) chips with various yellow-emitting phosphors. However, the LEDs produced by this technique often exhibit high correlated color temperature (CCT) and low color rendering index (CRI) values, due to sufficient red spectral components not being present, and thus aren't suitable for commercial grade white illumination. To circumvent this drawback, our work reports for the first time the use of blue and green-emitting nitrogen-functionalized graphene quantum dots (GQDs) coupled with red-emitting CsPbI₃NCs for phosphor-based LED applications. We deployed near-UV to visible excitable red-emitting perovskite CsPbI₃nanocrystals which contribute toward the red spectral component, thus greatly improving the CRI of the LEDs. CsPbI₃nanocrystals are optically excited by nitrogen-functionalized GQD with blue and green emissions in a remote double-layer phosphor stack technique. This double phosphor layer stacking greatly improves both the CRI and luminous efficiency of radiation (LER), which usually has a trade-off in previously reported phosphor stacks. A CCT of ∼5182 K providing daylight white tonality, with superior CRI (∼90%) and ultrahigh LER (∼250 lumens/watt) are reported, which are significantly higher than the established benchmarks.

Micro-light-emitting diodes with quantum dots in display technology

Micro-light-emitting diodes (μ-LEDs) are regarded as the cornerstone of next-generation display technology to meet the personalised demands of advanced applications, such as mobile phones, wearable watches, virtual/augmented reality, micro-projectors and ultrahigh-definition TVs. However, as the LED chip size shrinks to below 20 μm, conventional phosphor colour conversion cannot present sufficient luminance and yield to support high-resolution displays due to the low absorption cross-section. The emergence of quantum dot (QD) materials is expected to fill this gap due to their remarkable photoluminescence, narrow bandwidth emission, colour tuneability, high quantum yield and nanoscale size, providing a powerful full-colour solution for μ-LED displays. Here, we comprehensively review the latest progress concerning the implementation of μ-LEDs and QDs in display technology, including μ-LED design and fabrication, large-scale μ-LED transfer and QD full-colour strategy. Outlooks on QD stability, patterning and deposition and challenges of μ-LED displays are also provided. Finally, we discuss the advanced applications of QD-based μ-LED displays, showing the bright future of this technology.

A novel Cs2NbOF5:Mn4+ oxyfluoride red phosphor for light-emitting diode devices

The addition of a red-emitting phosphor to YAG:Ce3+-based white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs) greatly facilitates their applications in the field of high-color-rendering-index warm solid-state lighting. It is highly desirable to develop a red phosphor with satisfactory spectral features and low synthesis cost. In this study, a novel non-rare-earth and nonequivalent doping type of Cs2NbOF5:Mn4+ oxyfluoride red-emitting phosphor with high luminous efficiency was obtained via a facile room-temperature co-precipitation method, and its morphology and luminescent properties were investigated in detail. The Cs2NbOF5:Mn4+ phosphor with micro-rod-like morphology exhibited broad band absorption at blue light region (∼474 nm) and narrow bandwidth emissions at red region (∼633 nm). The color purity of the Cs2NbOF5:Mn4+ phosphor was calculated to be about 99%, and the internal quantum yield (QY) under 474 nm excitation was 63.4%. The concentration quenching of Mn4+ in Cs2NbOF5 matrix was mainly due to dipole-dipole interactions, and the activation energy of temperature quenching was calculated to be ∼0.2610 eV. The demonstration of a blue InGaN LED chip in combination with a blend of newly developed Cs2NbOF5:Mn4+ red phosphor and YAG:Ce3+ yellow phosphor greatly decreased the correlated color temperature (CCT) from 6255 to 3517 K while significantly improving the color rendering index (CRI) from 72.5 to 87.5. It deserves to be mentioned that the brand-new matrix to phosphor in the present study can be extended to various niobium/tantalum oxyfluoride series, which is very helpful for developing and designing new red phosphors.

Highly Regular, Uniform K3ScF6:Mn4+ Phosphors: Facile Synthesis, Microstructures, Photoluminescence Properties, and Application in Light-Emitting Diode Devices

A new generation of red phosphors of complex fluoride matrices activated with Mn⁴⁺ 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 K₃ScF₆:Mn⁴⁺ 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) ų. The Mn⁴⁺ ions occupy Sc³⁺ sites and locate at the centers of the distorted ScF₆ octahedrons. A wide band gap of approximately 6.15 eV can provide sufficient space to accommodate impurity energy levels. Unlike most other Mn⁴⁺ ion-activated fluoride phosphors, the as-prepared K₃ScF₆:Mn⁴⁺ phosphors demonstrate highly uniform and regular morphologies with shapes transforming from cube to octahedron with increasing Mn⁴⁺ ion concentration. Under blue light excitation, the as-prepared K₃ScF₆:Mn⁴⁺ 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 K₃ScF₆:Mn⁴⁺. Furthermore, a warm WLED fabricated with blue GaN chips merged with the mixture of K₃ScF₆:Mn⁴⁺ and the well-known commercial YAG:Ce³⁺ 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 K₃ScF₆:Mn⁴⁺ phosphor possesses stupendous potentiality for practical applications.

Down-Conversion Nitride Materials for Solid State Lighting: Recent Advances and Perspectives

Advances in solid state white lighting technologies witness the explosive development of phosphor materials (down-conversion luminescent materials). A large amount of evidence has demonstrated the revolutionary role of the emerging nitride phosphors in producing superior white light-emitting diodes for lighting and display applications. The structural and compositional versatility together with the unique local coordination environments enable nitride materials to have compelling luminescent properties such as abundant emission colors, controllable photoluminescence spectra, high conversion efficiency, and small thermal quenching/degradation. Here, we summarize the state-of-art progress on this novel family of luminescent materials and discuss the topics of materials discovery, crystal chemistry, structure-related luminescence, temperature-dependent luminescence, and spectral tailoring. We also overview different types of nitride phosphors and their applications in solid state lighting, including general illumination, backlighting, and laser-driven lighting. Finally, the challenges and outlooks in this type of promising down-conversion materials are highlighted.