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 y Sn y Ta (2 − y) O 8 :0.003Cr 3+ NIR broadband phosphors with high quantum yields and high thermal stability are discovered by uniquely replacing [Mg 2+ –Ta 5+ ] in Zn 2.1 Mg 0.9 Ta 2 O 8 with [Ga 3+ –Sn 4+ ]. Under 460 nm excitation, Zn 2.1 Mg 0.85 Ga 0.05 Sn 0.05 Ta 1.95 O 8 : 0.003Cr 3+ 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.