Tunable Near-Infrared Emission via Crystal Field Engineering in Blue-Excitable In3+-Substituted MgGa2O4:Cr3+,Ni2+ Phosphors
Journal
Advanced Optical Materials
ISSN
2195-1071
2195-1071
Date Issued
2026-01-30
Author(s)
Huang, Yu‐Chieh
Chen, Shin‐En
Tsao, Chuan‐Fang
Lin, Yen‐Huei
Kamiński, Mikołaj
Majewska, Natalia
Leniec, Grzegorz
Mijowska, Ewa
Wang, Han‐Ching
Cherng, Ding‐Hwa
Yeh, Ting‐Wei
Mahlik, Sebastian
Abstract
Engineering the local crystal field through cation substitution is a widely adopted strategy to modulate the emission wavelength of transition-metal-doped inorganic phosphors in the near-infrared (NIR) region. While redshifting emission is desirable for extending applications into long NIR wavelengths, excessive shifts often lead to increased nonradiative losses due to large Stokes shifts, posing a trade-off between spectral tunability and luminescence efficiency. Herein, we present two series of In3+-substituted phosphors, MgGa1.94−xInxO4:0.06Cr3+ and Mg0.98Ga1.94−xInxO4:0.06Cr3+,0.02Ni2+, with 0.1 ≤ x ≤ 0.9. The incorporation of large In3+ results in lattice expansion and enhanced local disorder, considerably affecting the crystal field environment of Cr3+ and Ni2+. In the first part of the study, the effect of cation substitution on the complex luminescence behavior of Cr3+ in these partially inverse spinel phosphors is systematically investigated. Subsequently, the role of In3+ in tuning the Cr3+/Ni2+-codoped MgGa2−xInxO4 system, wherein Ni2+ emission is successfully redshifted from 1269 to 1429 nm, is explored. The findings of this work underscore the dual role of In3+ as both a structural modulator and an emission-tuning agent, offering a promising strategy for the rational design of broadband, wavelength-adjustable NIR phosphors.
Subjects
crystal field modulation
In3+ substitution
Ni2+ luminescence
redshift tuning
spinel phosphors
Publisher
Wiley
Type
journal article