Structural and spectroscopic investigation of Cr3+ doped GaBO3 NIR phosphor for multifunctional applications

Phosphor-converted LEDs (pc-LEDs) operating in the near-infrared (NIR) region are gaining attention as promising next-generation light sources for spectroscopy, bioimaging, and smart agriculture. However, developing NIR phosphors with emission spectra that match the absorption of phytochrome far-red (P fr ), a key photosensitizing pigment regulating plant photomorphogenesis, remains a major challenge for indoor agriculture applications. This study successfully synthesized the near-infrared phosphor GaBO 3 :Cr 3+ . Upon excitation at 420 nm, GaBO 3 :Cr 3+ shows an emission maximum centered at 710 nm, and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) is 108 nm, demonstrating high spectral compatibility with P fr . Compared to room temperature intensity, the phosphor retains 85.6% of its emission intensity at 373 K. In conjunction with a 420 nm LED chip, GaBO 3 :Cr 3+ was employed to construct pc-LED devices for applications in night vision, non-destructive imaging, and plant growth experiments. Under near-infrared pc-LED illumination, Bidens pilosa exhibited a 133% increase in growth rate compared to natural sunlight conditions, confirming the efficacy of this NIR light source for plant growth promotion. This work demonstrates the potential applications of GaBO 3 :Cr 3+ phosphor for night vision, non-destructive imaging, and plant lighting.