Nanoscale Luminescent Materials

The book encompasses the nanoscale semiconductor field by amalgamating a broad multidisciplinary arena including applications for energy conservation, materials performance enhancement, electronic circuitry, video displays, lighting, photovoltaics, quantum computing, memory, chemo- and biosensors, pharmaceuticals and medical diagnostics inter alia. The first section presents a comprehensive introductory overview of the photophysics, instrumentation and experimental methodology of nanomaterial luminescence. In the second and third sections of the book, invited experts highlight more specific advanced research areas that have either shown potential for, or have already realized, significant impact on the day-to-day aspects of modern life and the world economy.

This book gives an overview on the fundamentals and recent developments in the field of luminescent materials. Starting from the definitions and properties of phosphors, novel application areas as well as spectroscopic methods for characterization will be described. The reader will benefit from the vast knowledge of the authors with backgrounds in industry as well as academia.

It is pertinent to note that Luminescence phenomenon has once again occupied a central stage with the announcement of Nobel Prize in October 2014 to three Japanese scientists. The discovery of Galium Nitride proved to be a revolutionary step forward in creation of Blue LEDs. With the advent of LED lamps we now have more long-lasting and more efficient alternatives to older light sources. The Volume under reference consists of 9 Chapters, written by experts in the area of Luminescent Materials. First 5 Chapters are contributed as Review Papers and the last 4 are based on Research Papers.Chapter 1 is contributed by H.S. Virk, editor of this Volume, under the Title: “History of Luminescence from Ancient to Modern Times”. It traces the history of Luminescence based on E. Newton Harvey’s 770 page volume, which is a Classic in this area and narrates interesting stories from ancient cultures to modern times. The author has summarized the results of investigations of Bangalore Group under Sir CV Raman, the Indian Nobel Laureate of 1930. He has called “The Physics Nobel Prize 2014,” an Award for Luminescence.Chapter 2 is contributed by Sanjay Tiwari and JV Yakhmi on an important Topic: “Recent Advances in Luminescent Nanomaterials for Solid State Lighting Applications”. In fact, the recent Nobel Prize 2014 in Physics has been awarded for development of Luminescent Materials. The authors write: “Luminescent nanomaterials have attracted great interest worldwide because of their unusual structural, optical and electronic properties as well as efforts to prepare miniaturised devices. By understanding and manipulating these properties, the performance of the resulting optical structure can be tailored for desired end-use applications”.Chapter 3: “Persistence Mechanisms and Applications of Long Afterglow Phosphors” is contributed by NPL, New Dehli Group of V. Shankar and D. Haranath. The authors present a broad review of long persistence (LP) materials that are a special kind of photon energy storage and conversion materials. These are also known as long afterglow phosphors or long decay phosphors (LDP). This review Paper covers the recent advances in the blue, green and red-emitting LP phosphors/nanophosphors, persistence mechanism involved and the basic problems associated with their luminescence efficiency and persistence times.Chapter 4 by the Group of SK Omanwar: “Exploring Synthesis Techniques for Yttrium Based Phosphors” is focused on synthesis techniques developed by author’s group. An inter-comparison of various techniques is listed and data presented in 9 tables. The synthesis methods of yttrium based phosphors in terms of the particle sizes, morphology, required temperatures for synthesis, cost required for synthesis, and required time, are presented in this review in detail.Chapter 5 is contributed by the team of BP Chandra, a renowned scholar in ML, under the title: “Mechanoluminescence of Coloured Alkali Halide Crystals”. It is one of the longest Chapters in this volume and focusses on both Theoretical and Experimental aspects of elastico-mechanoluminescence (EML), plastico-mechanoluminescence (PML) and fracto- mechanoluminescence (FML) of coloured alkali halide crystals in all details.Chapters 6 & 7 are contributed by an upcoming Group working under Dr Sanjay Dhoble of RTM university Nagpur. The authors investigate PL and TL properties of Eu2+ and Ce3+ Activated BaAlSi5O2N7 Phosphors in the 6th Chapter: “Photoluminescence and Thermoluminescence Properties of Eu2+ and Ce3+ Activated BaAlSi5O2N7 Phosphors”. TL dose response of BaAlSi6O2N7:Eu2+ Phosphor was found to be linear in the dose range from 5.8 mGy to 22.5 mGy, and above this, it goes to the saturation level. 7th chapter: “Photoluminescence Properties of YAl3(BO3)4:RE3+ (RE=Ce/Dy/Tb) Phosphors” is also focused on PL properties of phosphors. It was found that this phosphor acts as a potential color tunable UV phosphor for white light LED devices.Chapters 8 & 9 are contributed by Meera Ramrakhiani Group of RD University, Jabalpur. EL studies have been made by this group of young researchers in their contributed Papers: “Electroluminescence in Organically Capped Cd1-x ZnxSe Chalcogenide Nanocrystals” and “Synthesis and Electroluminescence of Silver Doped ZnS/PVK Nanocomposite”, respectively. It is interesting to note that research work on Nanocomposites has been recognized to boost the economy at global level. Effect of Silver doping and ZnS loading has been investigated on the performance of ZnS/PVK nanocomposite in the last Chapter of this Volume.

Luminescence Thermometry: Methods, Materials, and Applications presents the state-of-the art applications of luminescence thermometry, giving a detailed explanation of luminescence spectroscopic schemes for the read-out of temperature, while also describing the diverse materials that are capable of sensing temperature via luminescence. Chapters cover the fundamentals of temperature, traditional thermometers and their figures of merit, a concise description of optical thermometry methods, luminescence and instrumentation, and an explanation of the ways in which increases in temperature quench luminescence. Additional sections focus on materials utilized for luminescence thermometry and the broad range of applications for luminescence thermometry, including temperature measurement at the nanoscale and the application of multifunctional luminescent materials. Provides an overview of luminescence thermometry applications, including high-temperature, biomedical, nanoscale and multifunctional Delves into luminescence thermometry by materials group, including Rare-earth and transition Metal Ion Doped, Semiconductors, Quantum Dots and Organic materials Gives a concise introduction of the latest methods of temperature measurement, including luminescence spectroscopic schemes and methods of analysis

Handbook of Nanophysics: Functional Nanomaterials illustrates the importance of tailoring nanomaterials to achieve desired functions in applications. Each peer-reviewed chapter contains a broad-based introduction and enhances understanding of the state-of-the-art scientific content through fundamental equations and illustrations, some in color.This