Enhanced Persistent Luminescence in Zn 2 GeO 4 :Mn 2+ Phosphor via Cation Engineering for Information Indication and Delayed X‐Ray Imaging

Investigating the mechanism of persistent luminescence (PersL) enhancement is crucial for designing PersL materials and their applications. In this work, a remarkable green PersL enhancement in Zn 2 GeO 4 :Mn 2+ (ZGO:Mn) via cation engineering using Sb 3+ co‐doping is achieved. After UV excitation, the initial and 500 s PersL intensities of ZGO:Mn/Sb are 6.9–19.2 times higher than those of ZGO:Mn, with a PersL duration exceeding 100 h. The improved PersL originates from Sb 3+ co‐doping, which generates new traps at 0.759 eV and raises the intrinsic defect density of ZGO, leading to enhanced PersL intensity and extended PersL duration. Besides, the ZGO:Mn/Sb sample shows negligible luminescence intensity degradation after 6 months of storage in air and unchanged performance over 100 charge‐decay cycles, and can be effectively excited by natural light at different times of day and various weather conditions. Besides, the scintillation intensity of the sample reaches 47.47 times that of a commercial Bi 4 Ge 3 O 12 crystal, achieves resolution exceeding 16.6 LP/mm in X‐ray imaging, and supports delayed X‐ray imaging up to 10 min. This work not only develops a green PersL phosphor for information storage, safety indication, and X‐ray imaging, but also offers an effective strategy for designing and optimizing PersL materials.