I-Corps: Quasi-Persistent Luminescent Material

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是发展各种形式的曳光弹和一种新的射击场。这项拟议的技术旨在利用发光的“冷光”来提供理想的“痕量效应”，而不使用化学危险和高能材料，这些材料既难以制造，又是人为引发野火的主要原因。更广泛地说，所提出的技术可以用来取代白炽灯形式的照明，在这种照明的必要持续时间是在个位数秒的时间框架内。最直接的商业机会是弹药，其他可能包括燃烧材料的烟花和新形式的安全照明。这个I-Corps项目是基于准持久发光材料的发展。提出的技术提供了新形式的持久发光荧光粉（非磷）“在黑暗中发光”的材料。虽然短持续发射寿命（微秒、毫秒）荧光粉是常见的，长持续发射寿命荧光粉也是常见的（许多分钟、小时），但“短持续”发射寿命荧光粉（个位数秒，10-20秒）尚未开发。短持续发光的发展有助于进一步理解光子激发的电子激发，以及短持续发光所需的电子阱能量分布。这些短时间持续发光材料的设计可以利用材料科学发展的进步，包括新的建模技术，晶体结构设计和新的掺杂化学。所提出的持久发光材料可能会刺激发光发射寿命的研究，并可能导致新的晶体配方的发展，为后续的光子学研究奠定基础。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of forms of tracer ammunition and a new kind of shooting range. The proposed technology is designed to use the “cold light” of luminescence to provide the desirable “trace effect” without the use of chemically hazardous and energetic materials that are both difficult to manufacture and are primary contributors to human-started wildfires. More broadly, the proposed technology may be used to replace incandescent forms of lighting where the necessary duration of light is in the timeframe of single-digit seconds. The most immediate commercial opportunity is in ammunition, and other possibilities include fireworks with incendiary materials and new forms of safety lighting. This I-Corps project is based on the development of quasi-persistent luminescent material. The proposed technology provides new forms of persistent luminescent phosphor (not phosphorous) "glow-in-the-dark" materials. Whereas short duration emission lifetime (microseconds, milliseconds) phosphors are common and long duration emission lifetime phosphors are common (many minutes, hours), "short-duration persistent" emission lifetime phosphors (single-digit seconds, 10-20 seconds) have not yet been developed. The development of short duration persistent luminescence may serve to further the understanding of photonically stimulated electron excitation, as well as the distribution of electron trap energies required for short duration emission. The design of these short duration persistent luminescent materials may leverage advances in materials science development, including new modeling techniques, crystal structure designs, and novel dopant chemistries. The proposed persistent luminescent materials may stimulate research in luminescence emission lifetimes and may lead to the development of new crystal formulations to serve as the basis for follow-on photonics research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.