Novel
pure Li1.5La1.5WO6:Mn4+,Nd3+,Yb3+ (LLWO:Mn4+,Nd3+,Yb3+) materials with intense emission-tunable
far-red-near-infrared (far-red-NIR), potentially applied in crystalline
silicon (c-Si) solar cells and plant-cultivation applications, were
prepared using a high-temperature solid-state reaction approach. In
optimal LLWO:0.03Mn4+, a far-red emission band peaking
at 714 nm, corresponding to Mn4+
2Eg → 4A2g transition of the 3d3 electron in a [MnO6] octahedron, is observed upon the
345 nm ultraviolet (UV) excitation. The broad excitation spectrum
(λex = 714 nm) can be decomposed into four Gaussian
bands centered at 323 nm (30 960 cm–1), 350
nm (28 571 cm–1), 399 nm (25 063 cm–1), and 470 nm (21 277 cm–1), respectively, which are assigned to Mn4+ ← O2– charge transfer, Mn4+
4T1g ← 4A2g, 2T2g ← 4A2g, and 4T2g ← 4A2g transitions. When Nd3+/Yb3+ is introduced into the LLWO:0.03Mn4+ system,
an energy-transfer process from Mn4+ to Nd3+/Yb3+ is demonstrated, which realizes the spectral conversion
of broadband UV–visible to far-red emission and NIR. However,
the energy-transfer mechanisms for them seem to be different, in which
the former one intends to be a resonant process of electronic dipole–dipole
interaction, whereas the latter one is proposed as a multiphonon-assisted
mechanism. In the case of codoping Nd3+ and Yb3+ into LLWO:0.03Mn4+, the Yb3+ emission is enhanced
based on a elucidated successive energy-transfer process of Mn4+ → Nd3+ → Yb3+. Consequently,
the UV–visible light can be effectively converted into tunable
NIR emission in this system based on the synergistic effect of dual
Mn4+ → Nd3+ → Yb3+ and
Mn4+ → Yb3+ energy-transfer processes,
matching well with the high spectral response region for c-Si solar
cells. Moreover, the acquired far-red-NIR emission also couples well
with the absorption spectrum of biologically active states Pfr and photosynthetic bacteria, which suggests its potential application
in plant-cultivation LEDs. Additionally, the good luminescence thermal
stability is found in LLWO:0.03Mn4+,0.02/3Nd3+,0.05/3Yb3+, further supporting its feasibility.