Constructing Efficient and Thermostable Red-NIR Emitter via Cross Relaxation and Crystal-Field Engineering of Holmium-Based Perovskite-Type Half Metal

Lanthanide ions, as dopants, have evoked widespread research interest owing to the rich optical, magnetic, and electrical properties, but their luminescent intensity is always limited by typical concentration quenching. Herein, a holmium-based double perovskite of Cs₂NaHoCl₆ is reported, which surprisingly breaks through this barrier and achieves efficient red-NIR emission by virtue of the large unit cell, low phonon energy, high content of activators, and cross relaxation phenomenon between Ho³⁺. The heavy Ho³⁺ also endows the intriguing half-metallic nature with a down-spin conducting band and an up-spin insulating band. After performing ion doping on crystallographic sites of Na⁺ and Ho³⁺, the photoluminescence quantum yield of such red-NIR emitter under 450 nm excitation is dramatically promoted to 82.3%, benefiting from the improved crystal field environment that alleviates the parity forbidden rule and suppresses non-radiative recombination loss. Furthermore, the heat-favorable phonon-assisted population processes enable the robust photostability against thermal quenching. By combining a 450 nm chip, the red-NIR light-emitting diodes are fabricated, in which the wide-coverage NIR emissions are ideally suited for medical light source, night vision, nondestructive examination, and transmission imaging. It is believed that this work will open an avenue for enhancing the fluorescence of lanthanide ions and developing advanced spintronic materials.