This chapter comprises a broader extent of the luminescence phenomenon with the mechanism involved therein as well as applications. Typically, the up and down conversion and downshifting behavior of the optical materials have been elucidated in brief. The fundamental understanding of these optical materials has been described by using schematic representations. It is well documented that the rare earth-based optical materials are known for their luminescent enrichment due to availability of the ladder-like energy levels. These energy levels can be utilized for the excitation of the luminescent materials by using a suitable excitation source. In the process of development of luminescent materials, choice of host matrices and dopant ions is very crucial. Strong correlation of these optical materials has been shown with the current scenario of our society and daily life. In view of the ongoing research, nanophosphor, glasses, and quantum dots with size- and shape-dependent optical behavior have been given in detail. The involved mechanism and the energy transfer phenomenon have been well elucidated by schematic and figures for the evident explanation to the readers. Our emphasis is to elucidate these optical materials in the development of innovative multifunctional applications such as lighting, display, sensing, LEDs, solar cell, and biological applications.

Luminescent materials with advanced performance are in the research hot spot with the recent technical developments of the display, lighting, and fluorescence labeling. Rare-earth-doped luminescent materials have been the focus of the research community owing to their wide applications in display devices, temperature sensors, solar cells, biomedical fields, optoelectronics, etc. This book covers the broad aspects of organic and inorganic materials based phosphors. The purpose of this book is to provide an up-to-date account of the present status and advancement of various techniques of synthesis of luminescent materials and their advanced applications in different areas. This book will cover all the experimental and theoretical approaches related to the rare-earth-doped luminescent materials. It also contains all the necessary information about the rare-earth-doped luminescent materials that were used in the past few years. In a nutshell, this book provides a unique platform to the newcomers who are planning to do research on rare-earthdoped luminescent materials as well as the researchers who are well established in this field.

Luminescence, for example, as fluorescence, bioluminescence, and phosphorescence, can result from chemical changes, electrical energy, subatomic motions, reactions in crystals, or stimulation of an atomic system. This subject continues to have a major technological role for humankind in the form of applications such as organic and inorganic light emitters for flat panel and flexible displays such as plasma displays, LCD displays, and OLED displays. Luminescent Materials and Applications describes a wide range of materials and applications that are of current interest including organic light emitting materials and devices, inorganic light emitting diode materials and devices, down-conversion materials, nanomaterials, and powder and thin-film electroluminescent phosphor materials and devices. In addition, both the physics and the materials aspects of the field of solid-state luminescence are presented. Thus, the book may be used as a reference to gain an understanding of various types and mechanisms of luminescence and of the implementation of luminescence into practical devices. The book is aimed at postgraduate students (physicists, electrical engineers, chemical engineers, materials scientists, and engineers) and researchers in industry, for example, at lighting and display companies and academia involved in studying conduction in solids and electronic materials. It will also provide an excellent starting point for all scientists interested in luminescent materials. Finally it is hoped that this book will not only educate, but also stimulate further progress in this rapidly evolving field.

This book highlights the synthesis, luminescence, and applications of rare earth-doped phosphors materials for solid-state lighting. Solid-state lighting is turning into a leading technology in the lighting industry, permitting improvement in the fields from architectural to domestic applications. Driven with the aid of using ongoing multi-field research, solid-state lighting needs an improvement of various technologies: efficient and reliable light-emitting devices, devices for new functionalities, and optical solutions for beam shaping. Noteworthy research endeavors were aimed to find out eco-friendly, better performance, cost, and energy-efficient phosphor materials for the application in solid-state lighting devices. Power phosphor materials with advanced optical and photoluminescence properties in a wide range of areas have shared the research efforts in this sector aimed in the direction of achieving better material features. Rare earth ion-doped phosphor materials have been the subject of scientific interest because of their significant applications in a variety of fields such as display devices, temperature sensors, solar cells, bio-imaging, and optoelectronics devices. This book covers the broad aspects of organic and inorganic materials based on phosphor materials and is beneficial to researchers involved in these areas. This book is specially designed to provide an introductory concept of luminescent materials, particularly man-made (artificial) phosphors in a language comprehensible to beginners and students. The book also includes some new materials with promising technologies and upgraded properties that expose new potential possibilities are also highlighted.

Luminescence - OLED Technology and Applications is a collection of reviewed and relevant research chapters offering a comprehensive overview of recent developments in the field of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) materials and devices. The book comprises chapters authored by various researchers and is edited by an expert in the field. It provides a thorough overview of the latest technologies and applications in this field and opens new possible research paths for further novel developments.

Everyone starting work in this field is faced with the lack of basic books. Here, two renowned researchers introduce the reader to luminescence and its applications, describing the principles of the luminescence processes in a clear way and dealing not only with physics, but also with the chemistry of systems. Particular attention is paid to materials such as lamp phosphors, cathode-ray and X-ray phosphors, scintillators and many other applications.

It is pertinent to note that Luminescence phenomenon has once again occupied a central stage with the announcement of Nobel Prize in October 2014 to three Japanese scientists. The discovery of Galium Nitride proved to be a revolutionary step forward in creation of Blue LEDs. With the advent of LED lamps we now have more long-lasting and more efficient alternatives to older light sources. The Volume under reference consists of 9 Chapters, written by experts in the area of Luminescent Materials. First 5 Chapters are contributed as Review Papers and the last 4 are based on Research Papers.Chapter 1 is contributed by H.S. Virk, editor of this Volume, under the Title: “History of Luminescence from Ancient to Modern Times”. It traces the history of Luminescence based on E. Newton Harvey’s 770 page volume, which is a Classic in this area and narrates interesting stories from ancient cultures to modern times. The author has summarized the results of investigations of Bangalore Group under Sir CV Raman, the Indian Nobel Laureate of 1930. He has called “The Physics Nobel Prize 2014,” an Award for Luminescence.Chapter 2 is contributed by Sanjay Tiwari and JV Yakhmi on an important Topic: “Recent Advances in Luminescent Nanomaterials for Solid State Lighting Applications”. In fact, the recent Nobel Prize 2014 in Physics has been awarded for development of Luminescent Materials. The authors write: “Luminescent nanomaterials have attracted great interest worldwide because of their unusual structural, optical and electronic properties as well as efforts to prepare miniaturised devices. By understanding and manipulating these properties, the performance of the resulting optical structure can be tailored for desired end-use applications”.Chapter 3: “Persistence Mechanisms and Applications of Long Afterglow Phosphors” is contributed by NPL, New Dehli Group of V. Shankar and D. Haranath. The authors present a broad review of long persistence (LP) materials that are a special kind of photon energy storage and conversion materials. These are also known as long afterglow phosphors or long decay phosphors (LDP). This review Paper covers the recent advances in the blue, green and red-emitting LP phosphors/nanophosphors, persistence mechanism involved and the basic problems associated with their luminescence efficiency and persistence times.Chapter 4 by the Group of SK Omanwar: “Exploring Synthesis Techniques for Yttrium Based Phosphors” is focused on synthesis techniques developed by author’s group. An inter-comparison of various techniques is listed and data presented in 9 tables. The synthesis methods of yttrium based phosphors in terms of the particle sizes, morphology, required temperatures for synthesis, cost required for synthesis, and required time, are presented in this review in detail.Chapter 5 is contributed by the team of BP Chandra, a renowned scholar in ML, under the title: “Mechanoluminescence of Coloured Alkali Halide Crystals”. It is one of the longest Chapters in this volume and focusses on both Theoretical and Experimental aspects of elastico-mechanoluminescence (EML), plastico-mechanoluminescence (PML) and fracto- mechanoluminescence (FML) of coloured alkali halide crystals in all details.Chapters 6 & 7 are contributed by an upcoming Group working under Dr Sanjay Dhoble of RTM university Nagpur. The authors investigate PL and TL properties of Eu2+ and Ce3+ Activated BaAlSi5O2N7 Phosphors in the 6th Chapter: “Photoluminescence and Thermoluminescence Properties of Eu2+ and Ce3+ Activated BaAlSi5O2N7 Phosphors”. TL dose response of BaAlSi6O2N7:Eu2+ Phosphor was found to be linear in the dose range from 5.8 mGy to 22.5 mGy, and above this, it goes to the saturation level. 7th chapter: “Photoluminescence Properties of YAl3(BO3)4:RE3+ (RE=Ce/Dy/Tb) Phosphors” is also focused on PL properties of phosphors. It was found that this phosphor acts as a potential color tunable UV phosphor for white light LED devices.Chapters 8 & 9 are contributed by Meera Ramrakhiani Group of RD University, Jabalpur. EL studies have been made by this group of young researchers in their contributed Papers: “Electroluminescence in Organically Capped Cd1-x ZnxSe Chalcogenide Nanocrystals” and “Synthesis and Electroluminescence of Silver Doped ZnS/PVK Nanocomposite”, respectively. It is interesting to note that research work on Nanocomposites has been recognized to boost the economy at global level. Effect of Silver doping and ZnS loading has been investigated on the performance of ZnS/PVK nanocomposite in the last Chapter of this Volume.