I-Corps: Quasi-Persistent Luminescent Material

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发各种形式的示踪剂弹药和一种新的射击场。这项拟议的技术旨在利用发光的“冷光”来提供理想的“痕迹效果”，而不使用化学危险和高能材料，这些材料既难以制造，也是人类引发野火的主要贡献者。更广泛地说，拟议的技术可用于取代白炽灯形式的照明，其中必要的照明持续时间在个位数秒的时间框架内。最直接的商业机会是弹药，其他可能性包括使用燃烧材料的烟花爆竹和新形式的安全照明。这个i-Corps项目是基于准永久发光材料的开发。这项拟议的技术提供了新形式的持久发光磷光体(非磷)“黑暗发光”材料。虽然短持续发射寿命(微秒、毫秒)的荧光粉很常见，长持续发射寿命的荧光粉很常见(许多分钟、几小时)，但还没有开发出短持续时间的发射寿命荧光粉(个位数秒，10-20秒)。短持续发光的发展有助于加深对光激发电子的理解，以及对短持续发光所需的电子陷阱能量分布的理解。这些短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剂化学。拟议的永久发光材料可能会刺激发光发射寿命的研究，并可能导致新晶体配方的开发，作为后续光子学研究的基础。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.