Underestimated Color Centers: Defects as Useful Reducing Agents in Lanthanide-Activated Luminescent Materials.

Inorganic hosts, such as SrB4 O7 or certain nitrides, intrinsically stabilize Eu2+ even when the dopant is an Eu3+ -based precursor and reducing conditions are not employed in the synthesis. Although this concept is well known in the synthesis of phosphorescent materials, the mechanistic details are scarcely understood. Herein, we demonstrate that trapped charge carriers, such as color centers, can also act as redox partners to stabilize certain oxidation states of activators. Eu-activated CsMgCl3 and CsMgBr3 are used as examples. Upon doping with EuCl3 and in the absence of reducing conditions during the synthesis, dominant cyan or green luminescence from Eu2+ ions was observed. Photoluminescence spectroscopy at 10 K revealed that the reduction is correlated to color centers localized at defects. Although defects are typically undesired in phosphors, we have shown that their role may be underestimated and they could be used on purpose in the preparation of selected inorganic phosphors.