Energy extraction from dark Fe3+ in A2Sc2B4O11:Fe3+, Yb3+ (A = Sr, Ba) toward promoted NIR luminescence and pc-LED light source for multifunctional applications

Dechao Yu; Haisheng Liu; Mengting Lv; Benchun Li; Yayun Zhou; Xinxin Han; Dawei Zhang

doi:10.1038/s41377-026-02284-8

Your Location：

Home >

Browse articles >

Energy extraction from dark Fe³⁺ in A₂Sc₂B₄O₁₁:Fe³⁺, Yb³⁺ (A = Sr, Ba) toward promoted NIR luminescence and pc-LED light source for multifunctional applications

Original Articles

- Energy extraction from dark Fe³⁺ in A₂Sc₂B₄O₁₁:Fe³⁺, Yb³⁺ (A = Sr, Ba) toward promoted NIR luminescence and pc-LED light source for multifunctional applications
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 15, Issue 8, Pages: 2555-2570(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Engineering Research Center of Optical Instrument and System, Ministry of Education and Shanghai Key Lab of Modern Optical System, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
  2.Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Laboratory for Intelligent Micro-Nano Optoelectronic Technology, School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan, China
  3.MOE Key Laboratory of New Processing Technology for Non-ferrous Metals and Materials, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Processing for Non-ferrous Metals and Featured Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
- Author bio：
  
  Dechao Yu (d.yu@usst.edu.cn)
  Dawei Zhang (dwzhang@usst.edu.cn)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-026-02284-8
  CLC：
- Received：21 October 2025，
  
  Revised：2026-03-18，
  
  Accepted：19 March 2026，
  
  Online First：09 May 2026，
  
  Published：31 August 2026
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Yu, D. C. et al. Energy extraction from dark Fe³⁺ in A₂Sc₂B₄O₁₁:Fe³⁺, Yb³⁺ (A = Sr, Ba) toward promoted NIR luminescence and pc-LED light source for multifunctional applications. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 2555-2570 (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41377-026-02284-8.
DOI：

Yu, D. C. et al. Energy extraction from dark Fe³⁺ in A₂Sc₂B₄O₁₁:Fe³⁺, Yb³⁺ (A = Sr, Ba) toward promoted NIR luminescence and pc-LED light source for multifunctional applications. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 2555-2570 (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41377-026-02284-8. DOI：

摘要

Abstract

New generation of Cr

-free ec

o-friendly phosphors (no risk of Cr

→ Cr

oxidization toxicity) are highly sought to develop broadband NIR light sources. As an essential element for body health

ion would be an exceptional alternative in strong octahedral crystal field. Here

the Fe

activators were utilized in orthoborate-pyroborate A

for creating novel NIR-emitting phosphors. A broad absorption over 240–450 nm due to O

→ Fe

charge transfer transition was recorded for Sr

:Fe

(SSBO:Fe

) at 370 nm and Ba

:Fe

(BSBO:Fe

) at 355 nm. Resultant NIR emissions with large full width at half maximum about 170 nm were obtained for SSBO:Fe

peaked at 975 nm and BSBO:Fe

at 930 nm. The unique excitation of Fe

doping towards near-ultraviolet (near-UV) region was initially achieved for potential advantage of coupling a mainstream UV chip. Codoping of Yb

into A

:Fe

made emission peak red-shift towards 1000 nm and ~ 160-fold enhancement in the integral intensity owing to a robust energy extraction from the major dark (nonluminous) Fe

. The optimized SSBO:0.02Fe

0.15Yb

exhibited considerable internal and external quantum efficiency ~ 78% and 48%

respectively. Compared to the luminescence thermal stability of ASBO:Fe

(32%@373 K

i.e.

sustaining 32% of its room-temperature emission intensity at 373 K)

the Yb

codoping endowed much superior stability

63%@373 K

and additional temperature sensing with relative sensitivity ~ 1.5% K

−1

at 423 K. Ultimately

by coating the novel phosphors onto UV ~ 365 nm chips

the home-made pc-LEDs were applied in night vision

food inspection

biomedical imagi

and spectroscopy analysis.

关键词

Keywords

references

Jia, Z. W. et al. Strategies to approach high performance in Cr 3+ -doped phosphors for high-power NIR-LED light sources. Light Sci. Appl. 9 , 86 (2020)..

Zhang, L. L. et al. Cr 3+ -doped broadband NIR garnet phosphor with enhanced luminescence and its application in NIR spectroscopy. Adv. Opt. Mater. 7 , 1900185 (2019)..

Ding, Q. Y. et al. Broadband short-wave infrared Mg 4 Nb 2 O 9 :Cr 3+ ,Li + phosphor for nondestructive safety detection and biomedical imaging. J. Mater. Chem. C. 12 , 2184–2193 (2024)..

Liu, G. C. et al. Li/Na substitution and Yb 3+ co-doping enabling tunable near-infrared emission in LiIn 2 SbO 6 :Cr 3+ phosphors for light-emitting diodes. iScience 24 , 102250 (2021)..

Zou, X. K. et al. A highly efficient and suitable spectral profile Cr 3+ -doped garnet near-infrared emitting phosphor for regulating photomorphogenesis of plants. Chem. Eng. J. 428 , 132003 (2022)..

Cheng, W. G. et al. Research on high-precision gas concentration inversion based on adaptive infrared multi-band joint spectral analysis. Chin. Opt. 17 , 1340–1350 (2024)..

Tian, T. et al. NIR-Ⅱ fluorescence confocal imaging based on indirect wavefront shaping. Chin. Opt. 17 , 150–159 (2024)..

Liu, T. et al. Efficient luminescent stable Chichibabin diradicaloid for near-infrared imaging and photothermal therapy. Light Sci. Appl. 14 , 289 (2025)..

Zhang, Q. et al. Light focusing and additive manufacturing through highly scattering media using upconversion nanoparticles. Light Adv. Manuf. 6 , 248–259 (2025)..

Zhao, F. Y. et al. Advances in chromium-activated phosphors for near-infrared light sources. Laser Photonics Rev. 16 , 2200380 (2022)..

Zhong, J. Y. et al. Efficient broadband near-infr ared emission in the GaTaO 4 : Cr 3+ phosphor. Adv. Opt. Mater. 10 , 2101800 (2022)..

Xie, R. J. Light-emitting diodes: brighter NIR-emitting phosphor making light sources smarter. Light Sci. Appl. 9 , 155 (2020)..

Xiao, Y. et al. Tracing the origin of near-infrared emissions emanating from manganese (Ⅱ). Light Sci. Appl. 14 , 194 (2025)..

Yang, Z. Y. et al. Giant red-shifted emission in (Sr, Ba) Y 2 O 4 : Eu 2+ phosphor toward broadband near-infrared luminescence. Adv. Funct. Mater. 32 , 2103927 (2022)..

Tang, Z. B. et al. Eu 2+ -doped ultra-broadband VIS-NIR emitting phosphor. Chem. Eng. J. 388 , 124231 (2020)..

Dorenbos, P. Anomalous luminescence of Eu 2+ and Yb 2+ in inorganic compounds. J. Phys. Condens. Matter 15 , 2645 (2003)..

Zeng, H. T. et al. Two-site occupation for exploring ultra-broadband near-infrared phosphor—double-perovskite La 2 MgZrO 6 : Cr 3+ . Chem. Mater. 31 , 5245–5 253 (2019)..

Zhang, Q. Q. et al. Two selective sites control of Cr 3+ -doped ABO 4 phosphors for tuning ultra-broadband near-infrared photoluminescence and multi-applications. Laser Photonics Rev. 16 , 2100459 (2022)..

Yu, D. C. et al. Non-rare-earth Na 3 AlF 6 : Cr 3+ phosphors for far-red light-emitting diodes. ACS Appl. Electron. Mater. 1 , 2325–2333 (2019)..

Yuan, S. W. et al. Ultra-broadband near infrared phosphor with wide spectral range and long peak wavelength achieved by double-site occupation. J. Rare Earths 41 , 1670–1677 (2023)..

Lai, J. et al. Disentangling site occupancy, cation regulation, and oxidation state regulation of the broadband near infrared emission in a chromium-doped SrGa 4 O 7 phosphor. Inorg. Chem. Front. 7 , 2313–2321 (2020)..

Zhitkovich, A. Chromium in drinking water: sources, metabolism, and cancer risks. Chem. Res. Toxicol. 24 , 1617–1629 (2011)..

Ščančar, J. & Milačič, R. A critical overview of Cr speciation analysis based onhigh performance liquid chromatography and spectrometric techniques. J. Anal. At. Spectrom. 29 , 427–443 (2014)..

Que, E. L. et al. Metals in neurobiology: probing their chemistry and biology with molecular imaging. Chem. Rev. 108 , 1517–1549 (2008)..

Dexter, D. L. A theory of sensitized luminescence in solids. J. Chem. Phys. 21 , 836–850 (1953)..

Kemlo, J. A. & Shepherd, T. M. Quenching of excited singlet states by metal ions. Chem. Phys. Lett. 47 , 158–162 (1977)..

Liu, D. J. et al. Highly efficient Fe 3+ -doped A 2 BB′O 6 (A= Sr 2+ , Ca 2+ ; B, B′= In 3+ , Sb 5+ , Sn 4+ ) broadband near-infrared-emitting phosphors for spectroscopic analysis. Light Sci. Appl. 11 , 112 (2022)..

Yan, L. Q. et al. Emerging Fe 3+ doped broad NIR-emitting phosphor Ca 2.5 Hf 2.5 (Ga, Al) 3 O 12 : Fe 3+ for LWUV pumped NIR LED. Laser Photonics Rev. 18 , 2301200 (2024)..

Xiang, L. et al. Environmentally-friendly and low-cost F e 3+ -doped broadband NIR light-emitting phosphors. J. Lumin. 252 , 119293 (2022)..

Zhang, X. B. et al. Tailoring Fe 3+ -activated broadband NIR phosphors: enhancing external quantum efficiency and spectrum adjustability through crystal field engineering in double perovskite antimonate structures. Adv. Opt. Mater. 12 , 2302300 (2024)..

Zhao, F. Y. et al. Structural confinement toward suppressing concentration and thermal quenching for improving near-infrared luminescence of Fe 3+ . Inorg. Chem. Front. 10 , 6701–6710 (2023)..

Thompson, P. D. et al. The mixed orthoborate pyroborates Sr 2 Sc 2 B 4 O 11 and Ba 2 Sc 2 B 4 O 11 : pyroborate geometry. J. Solid State Chem. 95 , 126–135 (1991)..

Zhao, F. Y. et al. Structural confinement toward controlling energy transfer path for enhancing near-infrared luminescence. Chem. Mater. 33 , 8360–8366 (2021)..

Shannon, R. D. Revised effective ionic radii and systematic studies of interatomic distances in halides and chalcogenides. Acta Crystallogr. Sect. A 32 , 751–767 (1976)..

Bragg, W. H. & Bragg, W. L. The reflection of X-rays by crystals. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. Ser. A Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 88 , 428–438 (1913)..

Su, S. K. et al. Achieving broadband NIR emission in Fe 3+ -activated ALaBB′O 6 (A= Ba, Sr, Ca; B–B′= Li–Te, Mg–Sb) phosphors via multi-site ionic co-substitutions. Adv. Opt. Mater. 12 , 2302383 (2024)..

Pires, A. M. & Davolos, M. R. Luminescence of europium(Ⅲ) and manganese(Ⅱ) in barium and zinc orthosilicate. Chem. Mater. 13 , 21–27 (2001)..

Clabel H, J. L. et al. XPS analysis of bridging and non-bridging oxygen in Yb 3+ -Er 3+ -Tm 3+ -doped zinc-tellurite glasses. J. Non-Crystalline Solids 553 , 120520 (2021)..

Yamashita, T. & Hayes, P. Analysis of XPS spectra of Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ ions in oxide materials. Appl. Surf. Sci. 254 , 2441–2449 (2008)..

Tai, R. Z. & Zhao, Z. T. Overview of SSRF phase-Ⅱ beamlines. Nucl. Sci. Tech. 35 ,137 (2024)..

He, Y. et al. The hard X-ray nanoprobe beamline at the SSRF. Nucl. Sci. Tech. 35 , 121 (2024)..

Tanabe, Y. & Sugano, S. On the absorption spectra of complex ions Ⅱ. J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 9 , 766–779 (1954)..

Gao, B. et al. Multifunctional Cr 3+ ion-activated Sr 2 Sc 2 B 4 O 11 broadband near-infrared phosphor with high luminescence thermal stability through the deformation constraint. ACS Appl. Opt. Mater. 3 , 978–988 (2025)..

Blasse, G. Energy transfer in oxidic phosphors. Phys. Lett. A 28 , 444–445 (1968)..

Li, Y. J. et al. Site-related near-infrared luminescence in MAl 12 O 19 (M= Ca, Sr, Ba): Fe 3+ phosphors. Mater. Res. Bull. 51 , 1–5 (2014)..

Nayak, M. & Kutty, T. R. N. Luminescence of Fe 3+ doped NaAlSiO 4 prepared by gel to crystallite conversion. Mater. Chem. Phys. 57 , 138–146 (1998)..

Brik, M. G. et al. Spin-forbidden transitions in the spectra of transition metal ions an d nephelauxetic effect. ECS J. Solid State Sci. Technol. 5 , R3067–R3077 (2016)..

Liu, D. J. et al. Valence conversion and site reconstruction in near-infrared-emitting chromium-activated garnet for simultaneous enhancement of quantum efficiency and thermal stability. Light Sci. Appl. 12 , 248 (2023)..

Bhushan, S. & Chukichev, M. V. Temperature dependent studies of cathodoluminescence of green band of ZnO crystals. J. Mater. Sci. Lett. 7 , 319–321 (1988)..

Denault, K. A. et al. Average and local structure, Debye temperature, and structural rigidity in some oxide compounds related to phosphor hosts. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 7 , 7264–7272 (2015)..

Zhang, Y. et al. Blue LED-pumped intense short-wave infrared luminescence based on Cr 3+ -Yb 3+ -co-doped phosphors. Light Sci. Appl. 11 , 136 (2022)..

Van Pieterson, L. et al. Charge transfer luminescence of Yb 3+ . J. Lumin. 91 , 177–193 (2000)..

Li, L. & Zhang, S. Y. Dependence of charge transfer energy on crystal structure and composi tion in Eu 3+ -doped compounds. J. Phys. Chem. B 110 , 21438–21443 (2006)..

Cao, R. P. et al. Synthesis and luminescence properties of Ca 2 AlNbO 6 :Fe 3+ phosphor for plant growth lighting. Mater. Today Chem. 42 , 102431 (2024)..

He, S. et al. Efficient super broadband NIR Ca 2 LuZr 2 Al 3 O 12 : Cr 3+ , Yb 3+ garnet phosphor for pc-LED light source toward NIR spectroscopy applications. Adv. Opt. Mater. 8 , 1901684 (2020)..

Wang, C. L. et al. Highly efficient and thermally stable broadband NIR phosphors by rationally bridging Cr 3+ –Yb 3+ in LiScGe 2 O 6 for optical bioimaging. Inorg. Chem. Front. 10 , 860–868 (2023)..

Yao, L. Q. et al. Enhancing near-infrared photoluminescence intensity and spectral properties in Yb 3+ codoped LiScP 2 O 7 : Cr 3+ . Chem. Mater. 32 , 2430–2439 (2020)..

Yu, D. C. et al. One ion to catch them all: targeted high-precision Boltzmann thermometry over a wide temperature range with Gd 3+ . Light Sci. Appl. 10 , 236 (2021)..

Zhang, X. G. et al. Broadband near-infrared luminescence from Fe 3+ -activated NaScSi 2 O 6 phosphors for luminescence thermometry and night-vision applications. Dalton Trans. 51 , 14243–14249 (2022)..

Zhao, S. et al. Broadening and enhancing emission of Cr 3+ simultaneously by co-doping Yb 3+ in Ga 1.4 In 0.6 SnO 5 . J. Rare Earths 41 , 1895–1903 (2023)..

Yang, Y. et al. Tetracoordinate Fe 3+ activated Li 2 ZnAO 4 (A= Si, Ge) near-infrared luminescent phosphors. Inorg. Chem. 62 , 12862–12871 (2023)..

Yan, Y. et al. Photoluminescence properties of AScSi 2 O 6 : Cr 3+ (A= Na and Li) phosphorswith high efficiency and thermal stability for near-infrared phosphor-converted light-emitting diode light sources. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 14 , 8179–8190 (2022)..

He, X. et al. Broadband emitting Fe 3+ -doped double perovskite-type antimonates phosphors for NIR spectroscopy applications. J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 107 , 2371–2383 (2024)..

Views

Downloads

CSCD

Alert me when the article has been cited

Submit

Tools

Publicity Resources

Helical opto-thermoviscous flows drive out-of-plane rotation and particle spinning in a highly viscous micro-environment

Two-photon states meet polarization-gradient metasurfaces for nanometric, low-dose lateral-displacement metrology

Statically foveated freeform OST-HMD system with wide FOV and high perceived resolution

Skyrmions based on optical anisotropy for topological encoding

Generating vectorial optical fields via surface-wave-excited complex-amplitude metasurfaces

Related Author

No data

Related Institution

No data

⁰