Improvement of luminescence properties in Zn2.1Mg0.9Ta2O8:Cr3+ by the cation substitution and its application in biological nondestructive testing and night vision lighting

Recently, it is of great significance to explore near-infrared (NIR) phosphor with more application prospects. In this work, a series of Zn_2.1 Mg_{(0.9 - y)}Ga_ySn_yTa_{(2 - y)}O₈:0.003Cr³⁺ NIR broadband phosphors with high quantum yields and high thermal stability are discovered by uniquely replacing [Mg²⁺-Ta⁵⁺] in Zn_2.1Mg_0.9Ta₂O₈ with [Ga³⁺-Sn⁴⁺]. Under 460 nm excitation, Zn_2.1Mg_0.85Ga_0.05Sn_0.05Ta_1.95O₈: 0.003Cr³⁺ depicts the 600-1100 nm broadband emission with a full-width at half maximum (FWHM) of 210 nm, and the quantum yields can reach 61.2%. Finally, the phosphor was mixed with epoxy resin and encapsulated in a 460 nm blue light emitting diode (LED) chip to convert the NIR LED by phosphor (NIR pc-LED), which was applied in the field of biological nondestructive testing and night vision lighting.