Quasi‐Continuous Defect Levels in Broadband Gap: A New Strategy for High‐Temperature Long Persistent Luminescence Materials

Abstract

AbstractLong persistent luminescence (LPL) materials widely employed in the fields of emergency lighting and anti‐counterfeiting are mostly used at room temperature. As temperatures rise, the performance of LPL materials deteriorates dramatically, which hinders their application in in vivo imaging, high‐temperature display, and information storage. Herein, a multifunctional material LiGa5O8:Tb3+ (LGT) with green high‐temperature LPL (HT‐LPL) and blue cathodoluminescence (CL) is reported. Its LPL performance is anomalously enhanced with increasing temperature, and the duration time is more than 8 h at 423 K. With combined temperature‐dependent decay curves and thermoluminescence analyses, the unique quasi‐continuous defect levels are found in the band gap. The high‐concentration carriers in deep traps are frozen at room temperature and activated only at high temperatures, accompanied by changes in energy transfer pathways. The excellent HT‐LPL makes LGT a light‐emitting component of next‐generation smart wearable devices, as well as high‐temperature warning equipment in deep well exploration at a depth of 4500 m. The intense anti‐degradation blue CL makes it suitable for field emission displays, while the manipulable emission property makes it suitable for high‐level anti‐counterfeiting. This study fills a gap in HT‐LPL materials and opens up a new gateway for the efficient design of HT‐LPL and other multifunctional materials.