D2h-Symmetric Tetratellurium Clusters in Silicate Glass as a Broadband NIR Light Source for Spectroscopy Applications

Broadband near-infrared (NIR) light sources present attractive opportunities for potential applications in high-capacity telecommunication, temperature sensing, energy conversion, and NIR spectroscopy. While significant effort has been spent on materials doped with rare-earth and transition-metal ions, the achievement of these materials with ultrabroadband NIR emission and desired wavelength region remains a long-standing challenge, especially operating in the spectral region between 700 and 1300 nm. Here, such emission is developed in tellurium (Te) cluster-doped silicate glass for the first time. Furthermore, the mechanism of the NIR luminescence due to D2h-symmetric tetratellurium (Te₄) clusters is identified by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. For intense luminescence, a model for the generation and stabilization of Te clusters by tailoring topological cages via adjustment of the Na₂O and Al₂O₃ contents and by optimizing the content of the dopant is proposed. Various stable Te clusters embedded into glass exhibit intense visible (Vis) to NIR broadband luminescence (400-1300 nm) with a spectral gap of 900 nm. In a demonstration experiment, a light-emitting diode (LED) device is fabricated from Te cluster-doped glass. This study opens a new opportunity for Te cluster-doped glass as a broadband NIR light source for spectroscopy applications.