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Germanium silicon oxide achieves multi-coloured ultra-long phosphorescence and delayed fluorescence at high temperature

Author

Listed:
  • Huai Chen

    (Sun Yat-sen University)

  • Mingyang Wei

    (University of Toronto)

  • Yantao He

    (Sun Yat-sen University)

  • Jehad Abed

    (University of Toronto)

  • Sam Teale

    (University of Toronto)

  • Edward H. Sargent

    (University of Toronto)

  • Zhenyu Yang

    (Sun Yat-sen University)

Abstract

Colour-tuned phosphors are promising for advanced security applications such as multi-modal anti-counterfeiting and data encryption. The practical adoption of colour-tuned phosphors requires these materials to be responsive to multiple stimuli (e.g., excitation wavelength, excitation waveform, and temperature) and exhibit excellent materials stability simultaneously. Here we report germanium silicon oxide (GSO) – a heavy-metal-free inorganic phosphor – that exhibits colour-tuned ultra-long phosphorescence and delayed fluorescence across a broad temperature range (300 – 500 K) in air. We developed a sol-gel processing strategy to prepare amorphous oxides containing homogeneously dispersed Si and Ge atoms. The co-existence of Ge and Si luminescent centres (LC) leads to an excitation-dependent luminescence change across the UV-to-visible region. GSO exhibits Si LC-related ultra-long phosphorescence at room-temperature and thermally activated delayed fluorescence at temperatures as high as 573 K. This long-lived PL is sensitized via the energy transfer from Ge defects to Si LCs, which provides PL lifetime tunability for GSO phosphors. The oxide scaffold of GSO offers 500-day materials stability in air; and 1-week stability in strong acidic and basic solutions. Using GSO/polymer hybrids, we demonstrated colour-tuned security tags whose emission wavelength and lifetime can be controlled via the excitation wavelength, and temperature, indicating promise in security applications.

Suggested Citation

  • Huai Chen & Mingyang Wei & Yantao He & Jehad Abed & Sam Teale & Edward H. Sargent & Zhenyu Yang, 2022. "Germanium silicon oxide achieves multi-coloured ultra-long phosphorescence and delayed fluorescence at high temperature," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-32133-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32133-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tianhong Chen & Dongpeng Yan, 2024. "Full-color, time-valve controllable and Janus-type long-persistent luminescence from all-inorganic halide perovskites," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.

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