Luminescence enhancement of Cr3+ doped garnet phosphor for high-performance LED towards smart NIR light source

Cr3+ doped phosphor shows great potential for near-infrared (NIR) light-emitting diodes (LED), but it suffers from low quantum efficiency and poor thermal stability. Herein, a novel Cr3+ doped broadband NIR garnet Ca3Sc2Ge3O12 phosphor was developed. The multisite structure of the emission band is investigated by site-selective spectroscopy and is attributed to the octahedral Cr3+ perturbed by defects. Moreover, we propose different strategies to enhance the luminescence of the phosphor, including enhancement of crystallinity and elimination of defects. Compared with the initial sample, the emission intensity of the optimized phosphor is improved for 8.6 times. The optimal Ca3Sc2Ge3O12: 0.06Cr3+ phosphor exhibits excellent thermal stability. At 423 K, the integral emission intensity of the optimal sample remains 94.7% of that at room temperature. Finally, high-performance NIR LED was fabricated using a blue LED and the title phosphor. The packaged LED lamp has high radiance (109.3 [email protected] mA) and photoelectric efficiency (15.96%@40 mA). Our study not only provides a boulevard for enhancing the luminescence of Cr doped NIR phosphor, but also gives a new perspective for understanding the multisite luminescence of Cr3+ in garnet host.