Bright Circularly Polarized Mechanoluminescence from 0D Hybrid Manganese Halides

Hybrid metal halides (HMHs) with efficient circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) have application prospects in many fields, due to their abundant host-guest structures and high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). However, CPLs in HMHs are predominantly excited by light or electricity, limiting their use in multivariate environments. It is necessary to explore a novel excitation method to extend the application of chiral HMHs as smart stimuli-responsive optical materials. In this work, an enantiomeric pair of 0D hybrid manganese bromides, [H₂(2R,4R)-(+)/(2S,4S)-(-)-2,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)pentane]MnBr₄ [(R/S)-1] is presented, which exhibits efficient CPL emissions with near-unity PLQYs and high dissymmetry factors of ± 2.0 × 10⁻³. Notably, (R/S)-1 compounds exhibit unprecedented and bright circularly polarized mechanoluminescence (CPML) emissions under mechanical stimulation. Moreover, (R/S)-1 possess high mechanical force sensitivities with mechanoluminescence (ML) emissions detectable under 0.1 N force stimulation. Furthermore, this ML emission exhibits an extraordinary antithermal quenching effect in the temperature range of 300-380 K, which is revealed to originate from a thermal activation energy compensation mechanism from trap levels to Mn(II) ⁴T₁ level. Based on their intriguing optical properties, these compounds as chiral force-responsive materials are demonstrated in multilevel confidential information encryption.