Ni2+-doped MgTa2O6 phosphors capable of near-infrared II and III emission under blue-light excitation

Presently, Ni2+-activated near-infrared (NIR) phosphors still have disadvantages such as relatively short emission wavelength and narrow half-peak width, mismatched excitation wavelength to that of commercially available high-efficiency blue chips. Here, Ni2+-doped tetragonal MgTa2O6 NIR phosphor was successfully prepared by high-temperature solid phase method. The matrix material provided an octahedral lattice for Ni2+ to replace Ta5+ in the [TaO6] octahedron of the crystal lattice. Under the excitation of 470 nm blue light, Ni2+ was excited through 3T2(F)→3A2(F) spin-allowed transition and emitted an ultra-broadband NIR light that was 1300–2000 nm in wavelength, peaked ∼ 1620 nm, covered the NIR-II and NIR-III regions, had a full width at half maximum reached 297 nm, and a PLQY of 25.62 %. The unique ultra-broadband and long wavelength NIR emission by this phosphor was derived from Ni2+ which is situated in a weak crystal field environment due to space asymmetric distortion caused by a high charge polarization surrounding the center of the [TaO6] octahedron in a MgTa2O6 matrix. A NIR pc-LED was constructed using Ni2+-doped near-infrared phosphors packaged with a commercial high-efficiency blue LED chip (@ 470 nm), and its application prospect was demonstrated by NIR night vision monitoring and nondestructive imaging of venous in human fingers.