Luminescent inorganic-organic hybrid semiconductor materials for energy-saving lighting applications

Solid-state-lighting (SSL) technologies are gradually replacing conventional lighting sources due to their advantages in energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact. As such, developing high-performance luminescent materials to be used in SSL devices for lighting related applications has become a very hot topic in the past decade. These luminescent materials can be designed as either phosphors or emissive layers for light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). This article provides a brief overview on the recent research and development of a variety of luminescent inorganic-organic hybrid semiconductor material classes. The structural characteristics and luminescent properties of representative examples of each material family will be discussed and summarized.