Luminescence in the solid state

Abstract

Luminescent inorganic materials have become a mainstay in modern life. These solid-state compounds are essential for applications ranging from solid-state LED-based lighting and display applications to bioimaging and temperature sensing. The diversity of their uses has required researchers to expand beyond investigating luminescence in naturally occurring minerals to developing a host of synthetic materials. The success of this field has been driven first and foremost by a fundamental understanding of the physics dictating an inorganic solid's optical properties. This chapter introduces the origin of luminescence in the solid state discussing the various electronic transitions in transition metal and rare-earth substituted materials. Examples of essential materials systems are covered, including the luminescence of inorganic phosphors, scintillators, semiconductors, and quantum dots. Additionally, current applications of rare-earth and transition metal substituted phosphors are discussed in detail. Finally, recent advances in applying combinatorial, computational, and data-driven chemistry to discover new luminescent materials are highlighted.