A High-efficiency blue-LED-excitable NIR-II-emitting MgO:Cr3+,Ni2+ phosphor for future broadband light source toward multifunctional NIR spectroscopy applications

The development of phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes (pc-LEDs) in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II, 1000–1700 nm) represents an important, newly emerging, and dynamic field in NIR spectroscopy. Unfortunately, lacking efficient NIR-II phosphors that can be excited by commercial blue LED chips impedes NIR spectroscopy applications. Herein, a donor–acceptor strategy is developed by introducing Cr 3+ sensitizers to greatly enhance the blue-light excitation efficiency of NIR-II-emitting MgO:Cr 3+ ,Ni 2+ phosphor. Consequently, a high-efficiency blue-light-excitable MgO:Cr 3+ ,Ni 2+ phosphor that gives a NIR-II emission at 1335 nm with a full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 235 nm, is demonstrated. The product has a high internal quantum efficiency of 92.7 % and excellent thermal stability, maintaining 83.0 % of the room temperature emission intensity at 150 °C. Excitingly, the fabricated NIR-II pc-LED device shows a high NIR-II optical power (27.4 mW@350 mA). The performances of the achieved NIR-II pc-LED are almost the best results until now. Additionally, multifunctional applications including nondestructive detection and anti-counterfeiting of the NIR-II light source are demonstrated. These results are pretty crucial for the further development of NIR-II spectroscopy and imaging technology.