Near-infrared Broadband Research Articles

Near-Infrared Long Afterglow in Fe3+-Activated Mg2SnO4 for Self-Sustainable Night Vision.

The advent of near-infrared (NIR) afterglow in Cr3+-doped materials has stimulated considerable interest in technological applications owing to the sustainable emission of light with good penetrability. However, the development of Cr3+-free NIR afterglow phosphors with high efficiency, low cost, and precise spectral tunability is still an open question. Herein, we report a novel Fe3+-activated NIR long afterglow phosphor composed of Mg2SnO4 (MSO), in which Fe3+ ions occupy the tetrahedral [Mg-O4] and octahedral [Sn/Mg-O6] sites, giving rise to a broadband NIR emission spanning 720-789 nm. On account of energy-level alignment, the electrons released from the traps show a preferential return to the excited energy level of Fe3+ in tetrahedral sites through tunneling, leading to a single-peak NIR afterglow centered at 789 nm with a full-width at half-maximum (fwhm) of 140 nm. The high-efficiency NIR afterglow, showing a record persistent time lasting over 31 h among Fe3+-based phosphors, is demonstrated as a self-sustainable light source for night vision applications. This work not only provides a novel Fe3+-doped high-efficiency NIR afterglow phosphor for technological applications but also establishes practical guidance for rational tuning of afterglow emissions.

Ultra‐broadband and thermally stable NIR emission in Bi‐doped glasses and fibers enabled by a metal reduction strategy

AbstractBismuth (Bi)‐doped glasses with broadband near‐infrared (NIR) emission have been drawing increasing interest due to their potential applications in tunable fiber lasers and broadband optical amplifiers. Yet, the implementation of highly efficient and ultra‐broadband Bi NIR emission covering the whole telecommunication window remains a daunting challenge. Here, via a metal reduction strategy to simultaneously create a chemically reductive environment during glass melting and enhance the local network rigidity, a super broadband (FWHM ≈ 600 nm) NIR emission covering the entire telecommunications window with greatly enhanced intensity was achieved in Bi‐doped germanate glasses. More importantly, due to the excellent thermal stability, the super broadband Bi NIR emission can be well retained after the glass was drawn into an optical fiber. Furthermore, the transmission loss of 0.066 dB/cm at 1310 nm and an obvious broadband amplified spontaneous emission spectrum spanning a range of 1000–1600 nm were observed in this fiber. This work can strengthen our comprehension of the complicated Bi NIR luminescence behaviors and offer a feasible and universal way to fabricate tunable fiber lasers and broadband optical amplifiers based on Bi‐doped multicomponent glasses.

Broadband Near-Infrared Luminescence in Garnet Y3Ga3MgSiO12: Cr3+ Phosphors.

Broadband near-infrared (NIR) phosphors are the critical component of phosphor converted NIR light-emitting diode (LED) light sources. However, there are still a lack of NIR phosphors with excellent external quantum efficiency (EQE) and thermal stability. Here, we report a highly efficient broadband NIR phosphor Y3Ga3MgSiO12: Cr3+. The optimized phosphor yields an internal quantum efficiency (IQE) and an EQE of 79.9 and 33.7%, respectively. The integrated emission intensity still remains at 84.4% of that at room temperature when heated to 423 K. A broadband NIR LED lamp was made by combining as-prepared phosphor and a blue InGaN LED chip, which shows an output power of 89.8 mW with a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 17.1% driven at 525 mW input power. Our research provides a promising NIR phosphor with high efficiency broadband for the NIR light source.

Multi-sites energy transfer in Fe3+-doped KAl11O17 phosphor toward zero thermal quenching near-infrared luminescence.

Near-infrared (NIR) phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes (pc-LEDs) have demonstrated great potential for optoelectronic and biomedical applications, while the exploration of NIR phosphors with high thermal stability remains a challenge. Herein, we report an NIR phosphor KAl11O17:Fe3+ with zero thermal quenching (TQ) behavior up to 200°C. The asymmetrical broadband NIR emission with three sub-bands centered at 700, 770, and 800 nm is related to the superposition of different Fe3+ emission centers located in Al2O4, Al3O6, and Al4O6 sites of the KAl11O17 host, respectively. Temperature- and Fe3+ concentration-dependent emission spectra verify that the energy transfer (ET) between multiple Fe3+ emitters and the weak electron-phonon coupling (EPC) effect contribute to the thermally stable broadband NIR emission. The fabricated NIR pc-LED using optimized KAl11O17:Fe3+ phosphor exhibits great potential in information encryption applications.

External-cavity diode laser-based near-infrared broadband laser heterodyne radiometer for remote sensing of atmospheric CO2.

A near-infrared broadband (1500-1640 nm) laser heterodyne radiometer (LHR) with a tunable external-cavity diode laser as the local oscillator is developed and the relative transmittance, which represents the absolute relationship between the measured spectral signals and the atmospheric transmittance, is derived. High-resolution (0.0087 cm-1) LHR spectra in the spectral region of 6248.5-6256 cm-1 were recorded for the observation of atmospheric CO2. Combined with the relative transmittance, the preprocessed measured LHR spectra, the optimal estimation method, and the Python scripts for computational atmospheric spectroscopy, the column-averaged dry-air mixing ratio of CO2 of 409.09 ± 8 ppmv in Dunkirk, France on February 23, 2019, was retrieved, which is consistent with GOSAT and TCCON data. The near-infrared external-cavity LHR demonstrated in the present work has a high potential for use in developing a robust, broadband, unattended, and all-fiber LHR for spacecraft and ground-based atmospheric sensing that offers more channel selection for inversion.

Lithography-free near-infrared broadband absorber based on a multilayer nanosystem

Broadband absorber has been intensively researched for decades because of its high absorption property which can be applied to various applications. Most designed absorbers are based on metasurfaces with complex surface-patterns and complicate manufacturing processes. In this paper, we propose a lithography-free, simple four-layer dielectric and metal nanosystem as a broadband absorber. The performance of the absorber is demonstrated by both numerical finite difference time domain (FDTD) method and analytical transfer matrix method (TMM). In the concerned wavelength range from 800 nm to 2300 nm, the average absorption is 95.81%. And the two maxima of absorptions are 99.99% at 970 nm and 99.31% at 1708 nm. The broadband absorption is due to the ohmic loss of the material Cr, the reflection of the Al layer, the destructive interference between the Cr and the Al layers, and the top Al2O3 helping much light to enter the absorber. And the simple multilayer absorber does not require precious metals, lithography processes, making a large-scale, low-cost manufacturing process possible.

Concentration-dependent photothermal conversion efficiency of gold nanoparticles under near-infrared laser and broadband irradiation.

The photothermal conversion efficiency of gold different nanoparticles (GNPs) in different concentrations (1.25-20 µg/mL) and at different irradiation intensities of near-infrared (NIR) broadband and NIR laser irradiation is evaluated. Results show that for a concentration of 20.0 µg/mL, 40 nm gold nanospheres, 25 × 47 nm gold nanorods (GNRs), and 10 × 41 nm GNRs show a 4-110% higher photothermal conversion efficiency under NIR broadband irradiation than under NIR laser irradiation. Broadband irradiation seems suitable to attain higher efficiencies for the nanoparticles whose absorption wavelength is different from the irradiation wavelength. Lower concentrations (1.25-5 µg/mL) of such nanoparticles show 2-3 times higher efficiency under NIR broadband irradiation. For GNRs of sizes 10 × 38 nm and 10 × 41 nm, the different concentrations show almost equal efficiencies for NIR laser and broadband irradiation. On increasing the irradiation power from 0.3 to 0.5 W, for 10 × 41 nm GNRs in the concentration range of 2.5-20.0 µg/mL, NIR laser irradiation results in 5-32% higher efficiencies, while NIR broadband irradiation leads to a 6-11% increase in efficiency. Under NIR laser irradiation, the photothermal conversion efficiency increases with an increase in optical power. The findings will facilitate the selection of nanoparticle concentrations, irradiation source, and irradiation power for a variety of plasmonic photothermal applications.

Regulating Eu2+ Multisite Occupation through Structural Disorder toward Broadband Near-Infrared Emission

To promote the development of near-infrared (NIR) light sources in optoelectronic and biomedical applications, the discovery of NIR-emitting phosphor materials and their design principles are essential. Herein, we report a novel Eu2+-activated broadband NIR-emitting phosphor, BaSrGa4O8:Eu2+, which features multisite occupation due to Ba/Sr and oxygen site occupancy disorder. With an increase in the Ba/Sr atomic ratio from 1:1 to 1.7:0.3, the Eu2+ emission band maximum red-shifts from 670 to 775 nm, along with an enlargement of the full width at half-maximum (FWHM) from 140 to 230 nm. The underlying mechanism for the structure–property relationship is elucidated using density functional theory calculations. The application of the NIR phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes (pc-LEDs) is demonstrated, showing their potential in night-vision technology. Our results can initiate further exploitation of the host structural disorder toward Eu2+ broadband NIR luminescence for applications in pc-LEDs.

Broadband and Multimode Near‐Infrared Emitter Based on Cr3+‐Activated Stannate for Multifunctional Applications

AbstractBroadband near‐infrared (NIR) phosphors have recently received considerable attention in spectroscopy technology fields, but designing inexpensive, emission peaks centered above 800 nm, and multimodal broadband NIR luminescence material still remains a great challenge. Here, by selecting stannate compound Mg2SnO4 (MSO) as the host, a kind of broadband NIR phosphor MSO:Cr3+ with multimode luminescence properties is reported. The designed material exhibits an emission peaking at 800 nm and a full‐width at half maximum of 180 nm (≈2730 cm−1). The site occupation of Cr3+ in MSO is unraveled by density functional theory calculation. The constructed NIR light‐emitting device based on MSO:Cr3+ displays a high NIR output power of 187.19 mW@100 mA and remarkable photoelectric efficiency of 13.67%, and its multifunctional applications in information encryption, non‐destructive detection, and so on are also demonstrated. Additionally, through defect site reconstruction, MSO:Cr3+ presents superior broadband NIR persistent luminescence (PersL) properties with PersL duration time longer than 50 h. This work provides a feasible strategy to develop intelligent optical material integrated with multimodal luminescence through low‐cost stannate compounds as the host toward versatile applications such as non‐destructive detection and bioimaging.

The broadband emission of Cr3+-doped CaY2Mg2Ge3O12 and its applications for NIR detectors.

A phosphor-converted light-emitting diode (pc-LED) is a prime light source in smart broadband near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. The performance of NIR pc-LEDs crucially depends on the employed NIR luminescent materials. In this study, we synthesized a novel high-efficiency broadband NIR phosphor, CaY2Mg2Ge3O12:Cr3+ (CYMG:Cr3+). Under 450 nm excitation, CYMG:Cr3+ exhibited remarkable broadband NIR emission from 650 to 900 nm with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 115 nm. Within the CYMG lattice, the Cr3+ ion occupies Ca/Y sites in the dodecahedron Ca/YO8 and Mg sites in the octahedron MgO6, giving rise to two distinct Cr3+ luminescence centers. Remarkably, the emission at 100 °C remained at 92% of its room temperature intensity and 81% at 150 °C, showcasing its exceptional thermal stability. The internal quantum efficiency (IQE) reached an impressive 81.1%, with an activation energy ΔE of 0.324 eV. Furthermore, we integrated the CYMG:Cr3+ phosphor with a commercial 450 nm blue chip to fabricate a micro NIR pc-LED, which exhibited stable NIR emission across different driving currents, with a NIR output power of 49.65 mW@400 mA and a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 10.52% at 20 mA. All findings highlight CYMG:Cr3+ as a stable and efficient broadband luminescent material for high-performance NIR LEDs.

K2LiScF6:Cr3+/Mn4+ fluoride phosphor with enhanced broadband emission for NIR pc-LEDs.

Trivalent chromium ion-activated broadband near-infrared (NIR) luminescence materials have shown great application prospects as next-generation NIR light sources, but improvement of the luminescence efficiency remains a challenge. Herein, novel K2LiScF6:Cr3+ and K2LiScF6:Cr3+/Mn4+ broadband fluoride NIR phosphors are designed and prepared by a combination of hydrothermal and cation exchange methods for the first time. The crystal structure and photoluminescence (PL) properties of K2LiScF6:Cr3+ are studied in detail, which shows strong absorption in the blue light region (λex = 432 nm) and broadband NIR emission (λem = 770 nm) with a PL quantum efficiency of 77.6%. More importantly, the NIR emission of Cr3+ can be enhanced by co-doping with Mn4+, which may provide an alternative way for improving the PL intensity of Cr3+-activated broadband NIR phosphors. Finally, a NIR phosphor-converted LED (pc-LED) device is fabricated using the as-prepared NIR phosphor and its application in bio-imaging and night vision has been evaluated.

Understanding the broadband near-infrared luminescence in a highly distorted garnet Ca4HfGe3O12:Cr3+ phosphor.

Broadband near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy generated from a phosphor-converted light-emitting diode (pc-LED) has multifunctional applications, including food-quality analysis, bio-medical and night-vision, stimulating the demand for developing various NIR phosphors with desired properties. Herein, we selected a highly distorted garnet Ca4HfGe3O12 as the host and explored the near-infrared luminescence of Cr3+. As expected, this material achieved a long-wavelength NIR emission and excellent absorption efficiency based on the effect of Jahn-Teller distortion. The synthesized Ca4HfGe3O12:Cr3+ phosphor exhibits a broadband NIR emission peaking at 840 nm with a full width at half maximum of 150 nm, and the absorption efficiency reaches 48.0%. However, the internal quantum efficiency of the 6 mol% Cr3+-doped sample was measured to be only 35.3% and the integral emission intensity at 373 K kept only 60.1% of the initial intensity. The possible reasons for the unsatisfactory internal quantum efficiency and thermal stability were systematically analyzed, which provided a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between the crystal structure and the luminescent properties of Cr3+-activated garnet-type phosphors. Nevertheless, the as-prepared NIR pc-LED device exhibits a NIR output of 16.52 mW with a NIR photoelectric conversion efficiency of 5.92% driven by 100 mA current, indicating the potential of this material for application in NIR pc-LED.

An efficient LiSrGaF6:Cr3+ fluoride phosphor with broadband NIR emission towards sunlight-like full-spectrum lighting.

Sunlight-like full-spectrum phosphor-converted light-emitting diodes (pc-LEDs) require near-infrared (NIR) emission bands to fill the spectrum gap and consequently propel their widespread applications. Although fluoride NIR phosphors have been increasingly investigated, balancing high quantum efficiency (QE), high thermal stability, and wideband NIR emission to obtain excellent overall performance in a single system is still a challenge for Cr3+-doped fluoride NIR phosphor and is significant for direct utilization. Herein, a high-efficiency and thermally stable broadband NIR emission was realized in a novel LiSrGaF6:Cr3+ fluoride phosphor benefitting from a relatively weak crystal field and electron-phonon coupling effect. Upon blue light excitation, the ultra-broad NIR luminescence ranging from 650 to 1150 nm can be achieved with an FWHM of 149 nm peaking at ∼813 nm. Furthermore, this system possesses a high QE of up to 76.88% and its emission intensity at 423 K still maintains 61.62% of its initial intensity at room temperature. An NIR output power of 42.82 mW and photoelectric conversion efficiency of 14.27% of NIR pc-LED devices have also been presented based on this NIR phosphor, demonstrating its possible application in compact nonvisible light sources. In addition, a highly continuous sunlight-like vis-NIR pc-LED was further constructed by employing a blue chip with commercial cyan (BaSi2O2N2:Eu2+), yellow (Y3Al5O12:Ce3+), red (CaAlSiN3:Eu2+), and this LiSrGaF6:Cr3+ NIR phosphor. The as-obtained pc-LED exhibits an ultra-broad spectrum ranging from 400 nm to 1000 nm, exhibiting a higher color reproduction with a color rendering index (CRI) of 95.1 and luminous efficiency (LE) of 50.22 lm W-1. These results indicate that LiSrGaF6:Cr3+ phosphor can be a promising NIR phosphor candidate for high-quality sunlight-like full-spectrum lighting and infrared night vision technology.

A broadband near-infrared Cr3+-doped phosphor applied to near-infrared light-emitting diodes: enhanced luminescence and thermal stability by annealing.

Cr3+-activated phosphors with high quantum efficiency show excellent promise in the field of near-infrared (NIR) phosphor converted light-emitting diodes (pc-LEDs). Here, we design an annealing program for Cr3+-doped phosphors containing variable valence elements that cannot be prepared in a reducing atmosphere to enhance their luminescence efficiency and thermal stability. A novel phosphor, Li2Mg3SnO6:Cr3+, developed by this annealing design, containing variable valence element Sn, exhibits higher quantum efficiency and better thermal stability than the one prepared by the conventional solid-state reaction. The Li2Mg3SnO6:0.03Cr3+ sample exhibits broadband NIR emission with a full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 201 nm. After annealing, the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) and external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the Li2Mg3SnO6:0.03Cr3+ sample are enhanced from 48.5% to 84.7% and from 22.7% to 32.6%, respectively, and the thermal quenching temperature at which the luminescence intensity of the phosphor reduces to half of its initial value is promoted from ∼400 K to ∼425 K. The luminescence intensity of the optimized Li2Mg3SnO6:0.03Cr3+ sample at 425 K (∼152 °C) remains 49.2% of its initial intensity at 300 K. A NIR pc-LED is fabricated by combining the optimized Li2Mg3SnO6:0.03Cr3+ sample with a blue LED (455 nm blue chip), and the NIR radiant fluxes of 3.676 mW (at 10 mA) and 29.21 mW (at 100 mA), as well as a maximum NIR photoelectric efficiency of 14.2%, are obtained. The results show that this novel phosphor has great application potential in NIR pc-LEDs, and the annealing design exhibits huge potential for improving the optical properties of Cr3+-activated phosphors.

A novel broadband Ba3Ca4(BO3)3(SiO4)Cl:Mn4+ near-infrared phosphor with a special pseudo-octahedral Mn4+ coordination structure.

A pseudo-octahedral coordination structure of Mn4+ has been innovatively designed, which has realized the maximum red shift and the widest full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of Mn4+ emission so far, not only extending the emission wavelength of Mn4+ to the near-infrared (NIR) region, but also effectively broadening its bandwidth. In the Ba3Ca4(BO3)3(SiO4)Cl:Mn4+ (BCBSC:Mn4+) phosphor, the [Mn/Ca1O9] polyhedron contains one [Mn/Ca1O6] octahedron, which constitutes the pseudo-octahedral coordination structure of Mn4+. The BCBSC:Mn4+ phosphor can be excited at 362 nm and 470 nm and exhibits a broadband NIR emission centered at ∼756 nm with a super-wide range from 650 nm to 1100 nm. The FWHM can reach ∼90 nm. In addition, the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of the BCBSC:0.01Mn4+ phosphor is 69.7%. The unique luminescence characteristics of BCBSC:Mn4+ phosphors are explored using experimental data and first principles calculation. The significant redshift, the abnormal broadband emission, and the high luminous efficiency are closely related to the special highly distorted [Mn/Ca1O6] pseudo-octahedral coordination environment. The results contribute to comprehending the mechanism of the broadband NIR emission of Mn4+ activated phosphors and broaden the research ideas of developing high-performance Mn4+ doped phosphors for NIR phosphor-converted light-emission diode applications.

Gradient mapping of multi-timescale optical coherence tomography angiography signals for enhancing signal-to-noise ratio of flow detection

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a three-dimensional imaging technique based on low coherence interferometry of near-infrared broadband light and has been applied to medical diagnoses, such as structural diagnosis of the retina in ophthalmology. For several decades, functional variations of OCT have been also developed. OCT angiography (OCTA) is one of the functional variations of OCT and can visualize blood flows (microvasculature) in biological tissues by analyzing the time-series of OCT signals. Recently, several studies suggested the possibility that OCTA can not only visualize blood flows but also detect the blood flow velocity quantitatively, where the blood flow velocity is estimated by analyzing OCTA signals computed with multiple time separations from the time-series of OCT signals measured at a short time interval. OCTA signals computed with short time separations, however, reduce its contrast between dynamic tissues (blood flows) and other static tissues, resulting in the decrease of signal-to-noise (SN) ratio of the flow detection. This study proposed a novel method to enhance the SN ratio of the flow detection from such OCTA signals computed with short time separations, by means of mapping the gradient of OCTA signals against the time separations. In the experiments, a flow phantom and human skins were employed to compare SN ratios among OCTA with a long time separation (standard OCTA), OCTA with a short time separation, and the proposed method. The results showed that the proposed methods can detect flow signals with a high SN ratio equivalent to that of the standard OCTA and, therefore, suggested that quantitative detection of the flow velocity with OCTA will be possible with a high SN ratio of flow detection.

Near-infrared emission in perovskite oxides MZrO3:Bi (M = Ba, Sr) by dopants’ selective site occupancy

Near-infrared (NIR) emitting materials are essential for spectroscopic analysis, biological imaging and special lighting sources. Herein, broadband NIR emission is achieved in the Bi3+ activated perovskite oxides MZrO3 (M = Ba,Sr), and the luminescence mechanism was revealed using the combination of the experimental and first-principles studies. The valence state of the Bi3+ ions was confirmed to be trivalent in the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectra and the formation energy calculations. The possibility of NIR emission from lower state bismuth is excluded as the reduction atmosphere treatment, and therefore the selective occupancy of Bi3+ in the Zr4+ and M2+ sites enables the luminescence discrepancy in different atmospheres, where the Bi3+ on M2+ sites accounts for visible emission while Bi3+ on Zr4+ sites shows NIR emission. For the visible emission of Bi3+, the existence of Ba2+ vacancy shows remarkable influence on the emission spectra. This work not only provides a novel method to develop Bi-activated NIR emitting materials, but also helps to understand the intrinsic NIR luminescence mechanism of Bi3+ ions in inorganic compounds.

Achievement of broadband NIR emission in double perovskite NaLaMgWO6 via non-equivalent substitution of Cr3+

Low-cost and high-efficient broadband near-infrared (NIR) phosphor converted light-emitting diodes (pc-LEDs) are desirable for the compact NIR spectrum system. In this work, a broadband NIR emission with a large full width at half maximum (FWHM) up to ∼160 nm is achieved in double perovskite NaLaMgWO6 phosphor via the non-equivalent substitution of Cr3+. The crystal structure analysis and first-principle calculation have revealed that Cr3+ prefers to substitute Mg2+. In order to keep charge balance, the random-distributed Na+ vacancies are formed. This behavior has constructed two different crystallographic sites for Cr3+ substitution and their effect on the NIR luminescence performances of NaLaMgWO6:Cr3+ is investigated in detail. Within the weak crystal field, the zero phonon line and broadband emissions ascribed to 4T2 → 4A2 transition are present simultaneously, which ensure the large FWHM acquired in NaLaMgWO6:Cr3+. The broadband NIR pc-LED prototype fabricated with the as-prepared phosphor and blue LED chip is achieved, which demonstrates that the NaLaMgWO6:Cr3+ is a new candidate for the broadband NIR phosphor applied in the miniaturized optical devices.

Visible to near-infrared broadband photodetector employing thin film topological insulator heterojunction (p-TlBiSe2/n-Si) diode

The work presents a study of quasi-2D thin topological insulator film of TlBiSe2 and its heterojunction TlBiSe2/Glass and TlBiSe2/Si by thermal coating. The vibrational modes were identified in both the heterojunctions using Raman spectroscopy with the identification of the surface phonon mode (SPM) in the TlBiSe2/Si heterojunction. Ultrafast dynamics were studied for the relaxation dynamics of the charge carriers in these heterojunctions. The study identified the interface phenomenon in the form of charge states (CT) in TlBiSe2/Si p-n heterojunction. The p-TlBiSe2/n-Si heterojunction showed good p-n diode characteristics with a rectification ratio under the dark. Its optical response was studied by varying optical power (2.37–3.78 µW) and wavelength (500–1900 nm). It showed excellent photoresponse in the visible to near-infrared (NIR) range which peaks at 900 nm wavelength in both forward as well reverse bias. The explanation of its optical and electrical performance was modeled in terms of band structure, surface states, and interface phenomenon. The study is important in terms of the implementation of next-generation topological insulator-based photodetectors.

A novel extra-broadband visible-NIR phosphor doped with Ce3+ and Cr3+ towards multifunctional advanced applications

Phosphors that can emit broadband light from visible to near infrared (NIR) may have applications in the fields like white-light illumination and NIR vessel visualization, the investigation on single phase extra-broadband visible-NIR emitting phosphor is of great significance. Herein, an extra-broadband phosphor with tunable visible-NIR emission from 500 nm to longer than 900 nm (bandwidth >400 nm) was successfully prepared, which originates from the emission of Ce3+ (peaking at 573 nm), Cr3+ (peaking at 750 nm) and energy transfer from Ce3+ to Cr3+ in Y3MgAl3SiO12 garnet. The influences of Ce3+/Cr3+ doping concentration and working temperature were discussed systematically by luminescence spectra and decay curves. A visible-NIR full-spectrum phosphor-converted light emitting diode (pc-LED) fabricated with a 460 nm LED chip and Y3MgAl3SiO12:0.03Ce3+, 0.01Cr3+ can generate bright white light and broadband NIR light simultaneously. The co-doping of Ce3+ can perfectly compensate for the missing spectrum of Cr3+ in the visible region, thanks to the extra-broadband emission of Ce3+ in visible region and Cr3+ in NIR region, multifunctional advanced applications may be realized for the prepared phosphors.