Near-infrared photoluminescence from molecular crystals containing tellurium†
Abstract
We report the observation of near-infrared photoluminescence from Te4(Ga2Cl7)2 and Te4(Al2Cl7)2 molecular crystals containing Te42+ polycations. The experimental and theoretical results clearly revealed that the Te42+ polycation is a smart near-infrared emitter with characteristic emission peaks at 1252 and 1258 nm for Te4(Ga2Cl7)2 and Te4(Al2Cl7)2 crystals, respectively, resulting from the intrinsic electronic transitions of Te42+. Furthermore, it was also found that the emissions strongly depend on the excitation wavelengths for both Te4(Ga2Cl7)2 and Te4(Al2Cl7)2 samples, most possibly due to the co-existence of other Te-related optically active centers. This research not only enriches the species of luminescent charged p-block element polyhedra and deepens the understanding of Te-related photophysical behaviors, but also may stimulate efforts for designing novel material systems using such active centers. It is also greatly expected that these sub-nanometer optically active species could exist in other systems such as glasses,