Unlike afterglow phosphors, transparent crystals free of scattering issues hold great potential in applications such as volumetric displays and three-dimensional encryption. Here, a double-perovskite host of ca. 85 % transparency, a Cs2 NaScCl6 single crystal, was grown in aqueous solution. Through heavy doping of Tb ions, the crystal exhibited a high photoluminescence quantum yield (PL QY) up to 98.2 %. Both steady-state and transient PL spectroscopic investigation revealed a cross-relaxation efficiency (ηCR ≈99 %) between Tb ions, greatly mitigated the electron saturation on the 5 D3 level and encouraged the radiative route against quenching. The doped crystal displayed an intense afterglow of up to 12 h after ceasing the X-ray excitation, allowing it to be used in a radiation-storage battery which has a linear scaling capacity with loading weight. Our work opens possibilities in photo-stimulated volumetric display and three-dimensional information storage.
Keywords: Perovskites; Scandium; Tb3+-Doped Single Crystal; Volumetric Information Storage; X-Ray Excited Afterglow.
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