Recent Advances in Bismuth Ion-Doped Phosphor Materials: Structure Design, Tunable Photoluminescence Properties, and Application in White LEDs

Bismuth ion is an excellent activator and sensitizer for luminescent materials, which has been extensively studied during the recent decades. Bi3+-doped phosphors have received considerable attention for their abundant emission colors covering the whole visible light region under ultraviolet (UV) and near ultraviolet (n-UV) excitation, in flexible crystal structures. These phosphor materials have demonstrated potential applications in solid-state lighting, display, biomedical, and optical sensing. Herein, the recent advances in the structure design and photoluminescence properties of Bi3+-doped phosphors together with their white light emitting diode (WLED) applications are reviewed. The design strategies for crystal structure and the discovery of typical phosphors are systematically summarized, and the luminescent properties of Bi3+ can be effectively regulated by these strategies. Then, the design of polychromatic Bi3+-doped phosphors produced by different doping ions is described, which in turn can adjust the emission colors and realize a single-component white-light emission. This review will promote researches on the discovery of new Bi3+-doped phosphor materials, and the design strategies could provide an extensive guidance for the discovery and preparation of high-efficient phosphors with color-tunable emission including white-emission for WLEDs in the future. Additionally, research progress of Bi3+-doped perovskite and Bi2+-doped phosphor materials is briefly elucidated.