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Updated: Feb 5, 2026

Characterization of Biological Absorption Spectra Spanning the Visible to the Short-Wave Infrared
Published on: January 10, 2025
New function of the Yb3+ ion as an efficient emitter of persistent luminescence in the short-wave infrared
Yan-Jie Liang1,2, Feng Liu1,3, Ya-Fei Chen1,2
1College of Engineering, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
Abstract:
The trivalent ytterbium (Yb3+) ion has been extensively used as an emitter in short-wave infrared (SWIR) lasers, a sensitizer to activate other lanthanide ions for up-conversion luminescence, and a spectral converter in Ln3+-Yb3+ doubly doped quantum cutting phosphors. Here we report a new function of the Yb3+ ion-as an efficient emitting center for SWIR persistent luminescence. We have developed the first real SWIR persistent phosphor, MgGeO3:Yb3+, which exhibits very-long persistent luminescence at around 1000 nm for longer than 100 h. The MgGeO3:Yb3+ phosphor is spectrally transparent to visible/near-infrared light (~400-900 nm) and is a promising ultraviolet-to-SWIR spectral convertor. The MgGeO3:Yb3+ phosphor also exhibits a photostimulated persistent luminescence capability, where the SWIR persistent emission in an ultraviolet-light pre-irradiated sample can be rejuvenated by low-energy light (white or red light) stimulation. The MgGeO3:Yb3+ phosphor is expected to have promising applications in biomedical imaging, night-vision surveillance and photovoltaics.
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